SuperSonic Speed
by Master Gamer
Summary: Sonic's life is destroyed when Dr. Robotnik attacks. After barely escaping, he discovers that only way to win is by unlocking the soldier within. Through rigorous training, a new Sonic is born. One ready to do whatever it takes to destroy Robotnik's grip.
1. Intro

SuperSonic Speed  
  
By: Master Gamer  
  
Chapter 1: Intro and Green Hill  
  
----  
Starting notes:  
  
SuperSonic Speed is a series that basically takes the Genesis era of Sonic games and turns the events upside-down. I look forward to putting a realistic touch on the Casino Night level as I have the power and local knowledge too.  
  
Note that geography wise you could almost think of Metropolis as LA and Casino Night as LV. This was unintentional because I drew up the world map according to story events west-to-east, so, you know, that's how it goes.   
  
This story will have a number of different things such as why there is a Silver and Mecha Sonic as well as how Sonic ends up on the floating island and gets the chaos emeralds to become Super Sonic. The intro ain't too cool, but just stick with it.  
  
The Intro takes place at the fic's ending.  
----  
  
"Robotnik will be back, I just know it. I can't believe all that's happened in these last few days," Sonic thought to himself as he gazed at Casino Night's stardust of multi-colored lights. He was on the Atmosphere's indoor observation deck one-hundred feet above ground. Gauze was wrapped across his right hand and the floor was littered with scrap metal. An orange fox was sprawled out on the floor asleep; after all, it was four in the morning.   
  
As he gazed at the lights even more, he began to remember everything that had happened, or, in other words, how his life had been turned upside-down in a few days.  
----  
  
Grotto Village was an unusually hidden village about 50 miles north of Metropolis. Sonic The Hedgehog lived with his mom, Swan, and his dad, Boom. Sonic never had had a chance to meet his uncle because his parents had told Sonic of his uncle's evil nature.  
  
The day was sunny and clear, capable of deceiving one into thinking that nothing could go wrong. But nobody in Grotto Village had any idea how wrong their day would go...  
  
---  
Sonic relaxed in his tan brown rocking chair. He thought about the big race that would take place later that day. It was three laps around Metropolis Zone's outer boarders; that would be a long race. Sonic loved long races. He grinned to himself, imagining the huge trophy he would receive for winning.  
  
Sadly though, he would never make the race.  
---  
  
"Buzzbomber, Grounder and Kiki squads, report!" The psychotic voice of evil Doctor Ivo Robotnik yelled. Robotnik was an evil genius whose weight outnumbered his extremely high IQ score. His home base was in the Scrap Brain Zone, about fifty miles outside of Central Metropolis. He was planning a global takeover, starting with Metropolis Zone.   
  
The plan was perfect: use his robot squads to injure and capture as much of the population as possible. Once that was achieved, he would build and launch his Death Egg and mass-fire lasers to all parts of the globe. It was too perfect; the world would be his in a few days time.  
  
The doctor was interrupted by the buzzing and clanking of his robots approaching. "Sir Doctor Robotnik, BuzzBomber one reporting for duty," The bee-like robot droned.  
  
"Alright, BuzzBomber, you and your squad are to attack Central Metropolis. Call in the secondary squads to bring back as many prisoners as you can. Grounder, take as many prisoners as you can in the southern suburbs, and Kiki, take as many prisoners as you can in the northern suburbs. You are all dismissed," Robotnik concluded.  
  
---  
  
Three loud knocks sounded at Sonic's door. It was the emergency signal! What could be going on?   
  
Sonic unlocked the door and swung it open. His neighbor Slam Jackrabbit was at the door.   
  
"What's up?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Sonic! We need to get out!" The jackrabbit shouted, "Squads of monkey robots are swarming the village! Other villages are being swarmed with robots with drills on their heads, and... I'm sorry Sonic, but Central Metropolis has nearly been destroyed by beelike robots."  
  
"Central Metropolis? But, that's where mom and dad are! They have to be alive! I've got to save them!" Sonic rapidly said as he tried to formulate a plan.  
  
"No way man! It's way too dangerous!" Slam protested.  
  
"Look Slam, if I stay here, I'll be fried anyways, so I might as well try to save my parents." Sonic replied.  
  
"Well, I guess there's no stopping you, just come back Sonic."   
  
"Don't die on me man," Sonic finished, before racing out of the door towards Central Metropolis.  
  
Slam stood in the middle of the doorway and said, "No, don't die on me."  
  
---  
  
Sonic raced toward Central Metropolis with more speed than he'd ever imagined, much faster than his usual top speed of 250 miles-per-hour. Within a matter of the longest twelve minutes of Sonic's life, the blue hedgehog arrived at, or at least, what was left of Central Metropolis.  
  
He couldn't believe it... Not a person was in sight. Several buildings were on fire, and others were brown from laser scorching. Awnings from market booths were torn and the only sounds were a loud buzzing by... "Robots!" Thought Sonic. Panicked, he looked for a place to hide. The only thing he saw for a hiding place though was a vegetable stand. Sonic leaped over the counter and crouched.   
  
"That's funny," Sonic thought, "That buzzing's getting louder."  
  
Sonic saw a winged, silver creature out of the corner of his eye. "Buzzbombers!" Sonic thought. as he jumped over the counter and began to run again.   
  
"Where could I hide from them?" Sonic thought as he ran just fast enough to keep the robotic bees behind him. The blue hedgehog couldn't find a descent place to hide in the deserted city.   
  
Sonic continued on his current path hoping to find somewhere, anywhere to hide. Wait a minute! Was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing? He was! It was a building that hadn't been touched. He started to run as fast as he could, trying to lose the bee-like robots, but they only flew faster. The hedgehog raced to push through the rotating doors and into the building. The doors stopped all but a few buzzbombers from entering.   
  
"Hmm... elevator or stairs?" Sonic thought as he looked at the hall he was in, "I probably should take the elevator."  
  
Sonic raced toward the elevator and punched the up button. He became aware of the buzzing that was growing by the second.  
Turning around he saw the mass-amount of buzzbombers headed toward him. With a loud "ding!" the doors of the elevator flew open. Sonic threw himself into a forward roll, hit the button for the "roof" and watched the doors slam shut... or rather, mostly shut, a giant stinger kept the doors partly open.   
  
As the elevator went up Sonic heard a robotic shriek.   
  
"Oh, well, that guy shouldn't have stuck his stinger where it didn't belong or he coulda been in one piece right now!" Sonic thought.  
  
The doors opened and Sonic stepped onto the open roof. Normally, it would have been a beautiful sight, seeing the whole city. But now, the air was polluted with the intruding sense of death and destruction, the afternoon sky obstructed by clouds and filled with buildings on fire, buildings already burned to the ground, and buildings, if not burnt, were most certainly scorched.  
  
"Wow, it's so hard to believe that this city should have been filled with racers today," Sonic thought. "But now it's all... gone."  
  
---  
  
"Lieutenant Juke, report to the control center" Robotnik yelled into his microphone.  
  
Almost instantly, a hedgehog stepped in... A female hedgehog. The hedgehog was a bright lime green and wore a blue polo shirt and navy pants. A Red patch that featured a gold and red "R" covered the top part of her shirt's left sleeve.   
  
"You called, sir?" The hedgehog asked.  
  
"Yes, Lieutenant. I believe the attack on Metropolis has been a success. However, a blue hedgehog has been spotted in a report by the buzzbomber squads. Your job is to search for any survivors, and/or survivor camps and track down, and if necessary, confront him. However, DO NOT kill him, take him prisoner instead. Dismissed."  
  
"Yes sir," Juke replied.   
  
"DO NOT kill him." Robotnik didn't know it then, but that would one day be his gravest mistake.   
  
---  
Wow. Took me long enough. Anyway, hope ya liked it. It was originally supposed to cover the first zone, but I figured that could be next chapter.  
  
And finally, maybe, just maybe, this first chapter could be the beginning of something great. I have tons of plans for this story. 


	2. Green Hill

SuperSonic Speed  
  
Chapter 2: Green Hill  
  
---  
Sonic explored the roof, looking for an escape route and seeing what type of food he could find. Amid the various chairs and tables, Sonic saw a fluffy orange ball lying on the ground. However, this was no ordinary fluffy orange ball; this ball was crying.  
  
"Hey," Sonic whispered.  
  
"No! Go away; I don't want to be a robot!" The ball cried.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"What? You don't know?" The ball asked, uncurling itself to reveal the form of an innocent, shaken, young fox. Except this was no ordinary fox, this fox had two tails!  
  
"Robots have taken over the city hundreds of them! You know, you really don't look like a bad person." Said the fox.  
  
"Uh-uh. This is totally not good! However, something's bugging me. Why do you have two tails?"   
  
"Well, I'm not sure; everyone teases me because of it. I don't know why, but I can use them to fly."  
  
"Whoa! That's way past cool! By the way, kid. What's your name?"  
  
"Tails... Well, it's really Miles Prower, but I hate that name, so everyone just calls me Tails... That, or "Two-Tailed freak."  
  
"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, and I have a trick up my sleeve too. I can run faster than any other living thing on the planet."  
  
"That's cool." Tails said, frowning.   
  
"What's wrong? Sonic asked.  
  
"I was gonna ask you to give my parents a ride... But they're...dead." Upon saying this, the fox started to shake and cry again.  
  
"Dead?"  
  
"Killed by the robots."  
  
"Do you know anything more about those robots?"  
  
"Well, from what I've heard, the weakest prisoners are killed and the others are turned into robots to fight in his army."  
  
"Where'd you hear this?"  
  
"Around. Why?"  
  
"Nothing, it's just that I can't find my own parents. Wait a second! Isn't there a chance that they're alive then?"  
  
"No, I saw them die."  
  
"What kind of sick man or woman goes around killing people and turning them into robots?" Sonic wondered.  
  
Just then, a familiar buzzing came from around the rooftop entrance.  
  
"Buzzbombers! We have to run!" Sonic yelled over the crescendoing humming of the killer robot bees.  
  
"Nowhere to go!" Tails yelled back.  
  
And then, suddenly, Sonic got an idea...  
  
"Tails, climb onto my back!" Sonic yelled over the thunderous humming.  
  
The fox obeyed, and Sonic began to run, with Tails piggybacking. Sonic began gaining speed and the duo was approaching towards the edge of the building at a dangerous pace.  
  
"Are you nuts?" Tails shouted.  
  
"Me? I ain't nuts! I'm Sonic! And if you wanna live, you better hold on tight!"  
  
And then Sonic did the unthinkable...  
  
---  
"Lieutenant Juke, report," Robotnik said through his headset.   
  
His voice was actually more calm than usual; after all, he HAD succeeded in his ingenious master plan in turning Metropolis Zone into a lake of chaos. His plan had taken years to construct, everything had to be perfect. He had to assemble robots through lower-profile operations, gather assistants, and of course, plan the assault.   
  
Lieutenant Juke had been a worker rather than a volunteer, she was from Casino Night, and had needed the money for her sick dad, and had been "employed" (more along the lines of enlisted) when Robotnik had overheard a conversation. Juke the Hedgehog, was soon fit with a laser pistol, and became an excellent shot.  
  
However, Eggman regretted the day let Juke in on his Big, huge plan. She'd asked how he could do such a thing as killing innocent, defenseless people out of cold blood. Robotnik assured her that it was for a very important reason, but the Lieutenant had been rather edgy ever since.  
  
"This is Lieutenant Juke, things look bad. Most of the buildings are either blazing or scorched, some are even completely gone. Nobody's here-- Check that, waitasec! It looks like somebody's committing suicide! There's-- Hang   
on, lemme check my binoculars here. Yes! There's a blue hedgehog with an orange fox on his back! But-- it's moving to fast, there's no way that things real! That thing's going about four times the speed of a cheetah! It's headed right for the edge!"  
  
---  
"I hope you like carnival rides, 'cause this one's gonna be rough!" As Sonic executed his idea. With a swift hop, Sonic jumped off the building and fell.  
  
"Sonnnnnnniiiiiiiiicccccccc!" Tails screamed in a very high-pitched voice.  
Sonic flipped head over heels into a horizontal position, and with an almost inaudible "thud" landed against the side of the gargantuan skyscraper. Sonic's plan had succeeded. He was now running down the building with ease. By the time Sonic was at the tenth floor, the buzzbombers were still nearly at the top slowly hovering down.  
---  
"Geez! I don't believe this! That guy is running so fast he's running down the building! He's making some serious room between him and those double B's! (Term Eggs inc. uses for buzzbombers) Juke observed.  
  
"Lieutenant, anything else?" asked Robotnik.  
  
"Yes, they're headed eastbound, towards Green Hill. They may be headed for Casino Night. I've heard that there's an evac camp there, that is u-c (unconfirmed) though."  
  
"Ah, perfect! I can go right over to Mount Marble and wait for the hedgehog there. If he's planning on going to Casino Night, he'll have to pass Marble first. Excellent job, Lieutenant, continue your search."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Robotnik broke the transmission.   
  
"Attention all remaining buzzbomber squads. Report to Casino Night zone, where you will be instructed on your new mission- Operation Dice the Dice."  
  
Robotnik laughed maniacally. He dared not tell Juke he was overtaking her hometown. However, what needed to be done, would be done, and that was all there was to it.  
  
---  
  
Sonic jumped down from the building and landed on two feet. Tails ran away to a nearby location and was instantly sick, he returned shortly, and didn't look nearly as well.  
  
"Guess you got F-Ts, short for 'first-timer's syndrome', ha, guess you couldn't handle it. I hope it wasn't the high speeds, 'cause we need to go to Casino Night, that's where our emergency evac plan says to go. We should try and make it there by morning. We haven't even left the city yet." Sonic said. Tails silently jumped onto his back and Sonic started to run.   
  
---  
2 hours later  
---  
  
Sonic was running, almost unconsciously, his mind playing movies the whole time. He saw Slam, and his mom, and dad. He was supposed to participate in a race today, it didn't matter now though. Because Metropolis was ruined, his parents were most likely dead, and he was being chased by a bunch of robots with one goal: To kill him.  
A giant dropoff gaped before him, leading off it was a loop. And not too far in the distance was a volcano, the great Mount Marble.  
  
"Cool!" Sonic exclaimed, "Tails, check this out! I'm gonna run this loop!"   
  
And Sonic ran a quite about a half-block back, and then ran towards the loop. Sonic gained speed, and then he was up and into the air. Then, in less time than it took to get Sonic into the air, he was out, crashed on the ground. Horrified, Tails flew down by Sonic to check him out. Sonic was unconscious, but nothing was serious, and he only had a couple minor bruises, if that.  
  
---  
Mount Marble  
---  
Mount Marble was a volcano that was fitted with a temperature control unit to cool the lava so Robotnik could use it as a base.  
"Buzzbomber squads, we are launching a second attack and launching it early." Robotnik yelled into his microphone. "Assault number two is in Casino Night Zone- Assault number two, will now be called 'Operation Dice the Dice'. The attack will be identical in objective, except this is an all buzzbomber attack. And that you do not want to harm the buildings. Just take as many prisoners as you can, kill if you have to."  
  
Juke would not at all be happy with this.  
  
---  
Sonic awoke to a large humming and a lot of yelling.   
  
"Sonic! Wake up! Buzzbombers!" Tails yelled.  
  
"Sehwah?" Sonic asked, still half out of it.  
  
"BUZZBOMBERS!"  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
"Wait, they're all going away!"  
  
"What happened there?"  
  
"Whatever happened, it saved our rear this time."  
  
"Yeah, that was for sure,"  
  
"Hey Sonic, should we go up that mountain?"  
  
"Uh… we HAVE to go up that mountain. It's the only way to Casino Night."  
  
And the two then started up the mountain… Unaware of the danger within.  
  
Next Chapter: Never is it wise to climb a volcano, especially when that's where an enemy base is! Plus: Operation Dice the Dice ensues. 


	3. Mount Marble

SuperSonic Speed-Chapter 3: Mount Marble  
  
Please Note: I would GREATLY appreciate reviews. They keep me writing this fic (be sure to tell me what you like though, so I can continue to write what you like!)  
---  
"Lieutenant Juke you are to break off your search and head up to 'point a' on Mount Marble ASAP. Take your hoverboard. Capture the hedgehog, and as I said before, do whatever it takes, just DON'T KILL HIM!" yelled Robotnik psychotically. If her attention was diverted to the hedgehog, Robotnik could take over Casino Night without her finding out.  
  
"Roger that, Commander, heading towards point A." The Lieutenant replied.  
---  
About an hour later at Point A (far up the mountain)  
---  
Lieutenant Juke spotted the intruding duo immediately. They were across the way, about twenty feet down and one hundred feet across. Her zipline dropped down there, one of the reasons she needed it, was, afterall, for security threats. Robotnik had told her to capture him, but she really didn't want to hurt the hedgehog. She had a soft spot for younger people, possibly because she was one. The hedgehog looked to be about 15, and the fox about 10. She wasn't much younger than the hedgehog herself.   
  
The only reason eggs inc. had hired her was because Robotnik knew he could play her like a bad game of cards. She had been threatened with her families, and her own lives if he ever disobeyed her. She had wished she could have found other work to save her sick dad, because now, by working for Robotnik, she was endangering her whole family.   
  
By now, you can probably tell that, Robotnik, is indeed an incredibly sick man. And now she would have to get Sonic. Now, pistols normally don't have scopes, but for long-range operations, a scope was necessary.   
  
Juke had to be careful, if she wasn't, the hedgehog could easily be killed. She only needed him captured. Carefully taking aim, she targeted his left shoulder... And then she pulled the trigger.  
  
---  
Sonic didn't see it coming, no, not at all. One second he was walking along the path talking to Tails, and then... Sudden, intense pain overwhelmed him. He'd been hit, smack in the shoulder. He fell to the ground and clutched his shoulder. He lay there, knees bent, head thrown back, teeth grit, eyes closed, and in the absolute worst pain of his life. He glanced over and checked out the wound. His shoulder was burned, and was partly turning brown after it had completely burned through his fur, and there was also a ton of blood flowing out of it.  
  
He turned back into his previous position and shut his eyes. He briefly heard someone coming down the zipline, and feared for Tails' life. But there was absolutely nothing he could do now, and Sonic stopped fighting the pain and passed out.  
---  
  
"Don't worry kid, I ain't gonna hurtcha," Lieutenant Juke assured the noticeably scared fox.  
  
"You shot Sonic!!!" Tails yelled, his voice filled with rage.  
  
"I really didn't want to." The Lieutenant admitted. She pulled some gauze out of her supply kit and started wrapping Sonic's shoulder.  
  
"Sure you didn't."  
  
"Look kid, if I didn't shoot this hedgehog, my parents would be getting shot now, Robotnik would see to it."  
  
"Robotnik? Who's he?"  
  
"That jerk who's throwing his robots around and conquering cities."  
  
"I don't get it, why are you at Robotnik's mercy?"  
  
"Uh... Long Story."  
  
"I thought laser blasts don't hurt that bad?"  
  
"The eggs inc. pistols are special issue. They come with an ultra powerful laser and a mini-scope. Robotnik's kinda a cheapo, he wanted an all in one. Y'know what? C'mere."  
  
Tails reluctantly obeyed, and Juke grabbed him.   
  
"What?" The fox cried.  
  
"Sorry, kid, but you and the hedgehog are now prisoners of Eggs Inc."  
  
"NOOOOOOOO!"  
  
"Screaming won't do you any good kid. Don't think I wanna do this to ya."   
  
---  
Casino Night Zone  
---  
  
"BuzzBombers, I revise my plan, you may destroy HOUSES, just not major buildings." Robotnik yelled, before adding, "BEGIN THE ATTACK!"  
  
At that moment, the buzzbombers began their deadly work. Bombs dropped like flies throughout the city, wiping out entire residential areas. People ran through the streets screaming, as they were no longer safe in their homes. Thousands upon thousands of people were running in the streets. As more people fled from their homes, trampling started. More bombs dropped from the emotionless robots, this time, though, on the groups of people. Indeed, after Operation Dice the Dice, Casino Night would have a very low population.  
  
---  
Point B: Farther up inside the mountain  
---  
  
"This is Lieutenant Juke, I need a SWATbot at Point B entrance." Juke yelled into her microphone.  
  
She took off her backpack and took out a syringe.  
  
"Eek!" Tails yelled. "I hate shots!"  
  
"This ain't for you kid, you think Sonic was hurting bad back there, he'll really hurt when he wakes up unless I give him this. I give this to all my victims, I feel it's the least I can do." The lime-colored hedgehog explained.  
  
"OK, I don't get it. Why don't you just shoot Robotnik?"  
  
"Would you believe that if Robotnik dies, his robots are ordered to destroy the killer? No way could I match up against his number of robots, heck, I never knew there was so much metal in the world!"  
  
Then, the SWATbot arrived.   
  
"Alright, keep this fox steady for a few seconds. Kid, your gonna be very uncomfortable in a few minutes. Our prison facilities aren't exactly made for comfort. Your friend's been ordered to an interrogation, not the best place to be. Check this out." Juke said.  
  
Juke opened the door to the interrogation room. Tools of torture were scattered across the room. The room itself was dark, had no windows, and was most likely the oldest room within 500 miles. There was a control panel in the center, facing the booth itself. The booth was a small 25 square foot room with a chair and microphone in it. The booth was surrounded with dark walls on three sides and a safety door (made of bulletproof glass). Juke took Sonic and set him upright in the chair. She shackled down his arms and legs and closed the safety glass.  
  
"Kid, you'd better pray for your friend, 'cause he's gonna need all the prayers he can get." Juke told Tails.  
  
"Say, you're skin's a little brighter than most, where you from?" Tails asked. He was only curious.  
  
"Casino Night," was Juke's reply.  
  
It is said that curiosity killed the cat, but it sure helps the fox! "Tell me, what was that buzzbomber wave doing heading towards Casino Night?"  
  
"Casino Night! Whoa, whoa! That's impossible! If there was an attack anywhere , I'd know about it!"  
  
And then, a dark figure entered the room.  
  
"Are you so sure Lieutenant?" The figure asked. "Take the fox away SWAT."  
  
"You're kidding, Casino Night can't be gone." Juke said in stunned disbelief. She didn't want to believe it, but deep down she knew it to be true.  
  
Juke the Hedgehog had nothing to lose, he had lost his hostage, the one thing binding her to his vice grip of control. This was the dumbest thing she had ever known the Commander to do.  
  
"Why would you destroy your hostage, Robotnik. What is it that you want?" Juke asked.  
  
"I want the entire world to bow to me, to see my face on the TV and shake. To have people not be able, to eat, sleep, breathe without thinking about me, I want them to fear my every move quiver at my every breath. I want them to live their lives according to my rule. I want more robots than the world has supply of metal, I want to conquer the seven seas, control the stars!   
  
I want my face carved into the moon as a daily reminder of the master of their world! And then I will crush all who oppose me in the slightest way! I will regulate their daily habits! It will all come to fruition, my squads of buzzbombers and my other squads are in the midst of attacking cities! And nobody can stop me! Nobody can foil my master plan!!!" And with that, Robotnik laughed a maniacal laugh that sent chills down the spine of everyone in the room.   
  
During the speech, however, Sonic had regained consciousness.   
  
"So this is the guy who killed my parents and destroyed Metropolis!" Sonic thought, before yelling, "You I want to challenge you hand to hand!" Sonic was to angered to worry about the immense pain in his shoulder.  
  
"Ah, yes. I was supposed to interrogate you. These are the rules: In this period of interrogation, I am the current master of your life. You will obey my every command. You are not allowed to eat, or sleep unless the sleep is induced by my torture methods. You do not talk unless to answer a question." Robotnik started, before being interrupted by the blue hedgehog.  
  
"And if I do, you psychotic pig!" Sonic yelled before Robotnik pressed a button on his control panel and gave Sonic his answer-- A painful electric shock, one of which happened to dance across where he was shot, making it all the more painful. Sonic could only smirk.  
  
"Allow me now, to introduce myself. I am Doctor Robotnik, the new master of Earth as you know it. And you?"  
  
"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, and I'll be your worst nightmare!!!"  
  
Next chapter: A hedgehog rushes out to discover the truth while another rushes through his brain to find the best possible answer before electricity conquers his body. 


	4. The other side of the mountain

SuperSonic Speed Chapter 4: The other side of the mountainSuperSonic Speed   
  
Chapter 4: The other side of the mountain.  
  
  
  
---  
  
Supply Room #3254  
  
---  
  
Lieutenant Juke's mind was running one hundred miles per hour.  
  
"How could something like this happen?" Was the question that kept repeating   
  
itself through the hedgehog's head. She rushed as fast as she could to the rack   
  
containing her hoverboard. She turned it on and hoped aboard. Leaning forward,   
  
she sped through the halls as fast as the board would allow her. She escaped the   
  
complex and began on her way down the mountain. She had to find the truth.   
  
No matter the outcome, things would be bad. If Casino Night was unharmed, she   
  
would be wondering why Robotnik had lied to her, and if Casino Night was gone,   
  
then she didn't know what she'd do.  
  
---  
  
Interrogation Chamber  
  
---  
  
Dr. Robotnik sat in a swivel chair, fingers grazing over each and every one of   
  
the control panel's buttons, each of which would send the hedgehog's nerves   
  
jolting. His eyes were trained on the spiky blue creature strapped to his chair   
  
with an all too defiant grin on his face, the creature who called himself   
  
"Sonic". Robotnik wondered if the hedgehog was crazy because this creature was   
  
in a life threatening situation and SMIRKING! There seemed to be not the least   
  
amount of fear in the hedgehog, he seemed to be enjoying the thrill.  
  
"Get that smirk off your face right now, rodent!!!" Robotnik yelled, pressing   
  
one of his fingers down on the "shock" button. The hedgehog grit his teeth in   
  
pain as sparks of gold and blue danced across his body. However, much to Ro   
  
"Aw, forget it." Robotnik, sighed. He'd normally kill anyone defying him, but   
  
Robotnik wanted information. He could kill the hedgehog later. "Hedgehog, I want   
  
to know where your from."  
  
"So you do? My momma said never to talk to strangers." Was Sonic's sarcastic   
  
reply.  
  
"Oh, so you think you're real funny too, huh? I'll show you!" Robotnik yelled.   
  
He selected his favorite weapon, the probe. The probe was a weapon that scanned   
  
the body looking for pain sensors to irritate, which it then did. The psychotic   
  
doctor grinned at the rodent's pain.  
  
Sonic did his best to try and hide from showing his pain, it didn't work. His   
  
teeth were grit and he was hyperventilating. He tried to squirm around, but his   
  
bindings wouldn't let him. And to add insult to injury, Robotnik was laughing a   
  
very sadistic laugh. The pain stopped, it didn't fade, just stopped.   
  
Sonic was afraid, very afraid, under Robotnik's hands were tools to not only put   
  
Sonic in as much discomfort as the doctor pleased, but, Sonic realized, were   
  
tools to send him to his death, and that terrified him.  
  
---  
  
Coming into Casino Night  
  
---  
  
Heck, who cared about BEING in Casino Night, coming into it, especially at night   
  
was so much more scenic. The lights of hundreds of buildings were on, but it was   
  
strange, because, normally, there were thousands. Juke sensed it, something was   
  
amiss. She shifted her hoverboard into top gear and literally flew down the   
  
mountain. Her thoughts were neck-and-neck with her boards speed.   
  
Lieutenant Juke the Hedgehog reached the bottom of the mountain and panicked.   
  
Buzzbombers were dropping bombs in residential areas. Juke keyed her comlink,   
  
"This is Lieutenant Juke, I ORDER you to stop bombing and leave the city   
  
immediately!"   
  
However, she was surprised at the response. "Invalid Command."  
  
"Oh big time, crud." Juke yelled as she realized that Robotnik had programmed   
  
the bots to override her commands.   
  
The lime hedgehog zipped through the streets toward her house. Smoldering ruins   
  
were everywhere, only the skyscrapers were left unscathed. As far as residential   
  
attacks went, this one was much worse than Metropolis. The damage was so bad in   
  
some areas that giant craters had formed. Was Robotnik testing some new kind of   
  
bomb?  
  
She leaned back to slow her board near her house, and fell off, but not from   
  
lack of balance.  
  
---  
  
Back in the interrogation room.  
  
---  
  
"Now, answer me, where are you from?" Robotnik asked.  
  
Trying to hide any fear in his voice, Sonic (as calmly as he could) answered, "A   
  
few miles south of central Metropolis,"  
  
"Ah, so I see. Did you have fun in my raid?" Robotnik questioned, ending it with   
  
an evil laugh.  
  
"You killed my parents Robotnik! And now I want to kill you! C'mon, let me out   
  
and fight me like a man!"  
  
"Sure, but I'll leave the fighting to someone else, Lieutenant?" Robotnik   
  
called. "Lieutenant?" He had not noticed Juke's absence. Robotnik swore and then   
  
turned to Sonic again. "How old are you?"  
  
"15."  
  
"And now, why were you up on Mount Marble?"  
  
"I was heading to Casino Night."  
  
"So I thought. Tell me hedgehog, is there an evacuation center in Casino Night."  
  
Sonic couldn't risk telling Robotnik about the underground evac camp, or he'd   
  
sure as heck bomb that too. "No," Sonic said dully, and hoped that Robotnik   
  
wouldn't know he was lying.  
  
---  
  
Back in Casino Night-- Again  
  
---  
  
Juke got to her feet as fast as she could. Her parents were outside of her   
  
house, hands behind their heads and on their knees. There were only two   
  
buzzbombers, and then, simultaneously, they fired. Her parents slumped to the   
  
ground and the buzzbombers turned to face the Lieutenant and opened fire.  
  
Juke rolled behind a fallen bolder for cover and drew her pistol. She came out   
  
and fired at the first one: Direct hit. The other one tried to get on her six,   
  
but the Lieutenant turned around and fired, dodging the falling chunk of metal.  
  
She ran up to her parents, they were dead. She couldn't believe what Robotnik   
  
did. He would pay, and she knew just how... 


	5. Out of the frying pan and into the fire

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 5: Out of the Frying pan and into the fire  
  
* See if you can get the number reference in Juke's ID!  
  
---  
  
A jail cell in Mount Marble  
  
---  
  
If Tail's could of made full use of his feet, he would have been pacing the room. Unfortunately, Tails was bound to his cot, incapable of any movement. He began to cry. How could anything like this happen? A week ago, he had been playing basketball with his friends, and in a matter of two days his hometown was demolished, his parents were killed, and he was chained to a hard, cold, metal cot. Not exactly what you'd call a happy camper.   
  
Despite the overall warmth of the cell, the metal chilled his skin, enough to normally make him spring off in any other condition. However, he could not, and to top it all off, the bindings were one (or perhaps two or three) sizes too small. The metal dug into his flesh, making his time in the cell all the more miserable.   
  
---  
  
Mount Marble  
  
---  
  
Lieutenant Juke had retraced her path back up the mountain and was heading up to point "D", a relatively hidden (not to mention restricted) section of the mountain. It was restricted for good reason too. Point D was where the mountain's climate control was located. If the temperature was turned down, the mountain would begin to ice over, if the temperature was turned up, the mountain would begin to reheat, with disastrous effects.  
  
The Lieutenant was enraged, she couldn't even think straight, she was like a programmed robot with only one thought, "Die Robotnik, Die."  
  
---  
  
The Interrogation Chamber  
  
---  
  
Sonic was surprised when Robotnik's fingers didn't push down on the probe, or any other button for that matter.   
  
"Tell me hedgehog, do you want to kill me?" Robotnik questioned. The question caught Sonic a bit off-guard. Why would Robotnik care? Sonic was afraid he'd get shocked, but with honest brutality answered a simple, emotionless "Yes."  
  
"Now, tell me hedgehog, do you REALLY believe you can kill me?"   
  
And Sonic answered with the honest truth, "No."  
  
"I thought so, the Lieutenant reported no problems in capturing you, I figured that you mustn't know how to fight." He stroked his long, hairy, orange mustache. "And even if you did, you wouldn't live to tell about it. If I'm murdered, my robots will know how and who did it, and then they will come after you. So you see hedgehog, revenge is futile."  
  
---  
  
Point D  
  
---  
  
With a deep breath Juke entered the heavily guarded climate control chamber and hoped that the bots inside hadn't yet been overridden to her command.  
  
She stepped up to the main center.   
  
"Halt! State Rank and ID Number!" The guard droned.  
  
"Lieutenant-3995*," Juke replied, and was highly surprised to see the laser-proof glass doors slide open.  
  
"Access Granted." The robot stated without the slightest emotion.  
  
"I'm in!" Juke thought. She first deactivated the guards, they slumped to the floor, making loud crashing noise upon contact.  
  
She took the temperature control unit and slid the bar up as far as it could go.   
  
A warning appeared on screen in dangerous crimson letters, "DANGER!!! Excessive heat! Abnormal Eruption possible!"  
  
"That's my cue to leave," Juke smirked, the hardest part was done.  
  
---  
  
The interrogation chamber  
  
---  
  
A SWATbot rushed into the room.  
  
"Robotnik sir! The climate control has been altered sir! We must leave immediately!" The bot explained.  
  
"What the heck?" Robotnik asked as he brought up the readings on his computer. Indeed, someone had messed with the climate control settings, and he had a good idea of who it was.  
  
Let's go, I'm going to leave you and your friend to die hedgehog. Oh, and by the way, "Robotnik started as he took a coffee mug and placed it onto the "shock" button. "Hope this won't be too much of a SHOCK!!!" Robotnik laughed maniacally as he left the room.  
  
Sonic felt as if his whole world was being destroyed, he felt as if his whole body was going to explode. The shocks coursed through his entire body, jolting through every nerve it passed. Sonic could see the darkness eating away at his eyes, h panel and slapped the mug away. She looked at Sonic's body and watched it convulse a few more times. She ran up to him and released the locks on his bindings. The Lieutenant slumped him onto her shoulders and took off towards the jail cells.  
  
Once inside the cell block, she spotted the softly crying fox and unlocked the door. She released his bindings and asked "Can you walk?"  
  
Sniffling, the fox responded, "I think so."   
  
"Quickly, we need to get outta this joint, this mountain's gonna blow! When we get outside, get on my hover board and hold on tight!"   
  
---  
  
Heading Southwest towards Scrap Brain Zone  
  
---  
  
Robotnik was traveling in his egg cruiser. He was infuriated.  
  
"I can't believe that rodent destroyed my base! I can't believe she defected, now I need a new Lieutenant!" Robotnik yelled.  
  
"Incoming signal!" The Swatbot droned.  
  
"Who is it?" Robotnik asked.  
  
"Shady Hedgehog."  
  
"Hmm..." Robotnik scratched his head, he'd never heard of a Shady Hedgehog. "Patch him through."   
  
Robotnik turned on his monitor. A blue hedgehog with evil green eyes and streaks of black in his spikes appeared.  
  
"Greetings Robotnik, I am Shady Hedgehog. News travels fast in the underworld. I hear you have a need for a lieutenant," The hedgehog started, his voice deep, and layered with evil desire.  
  
"Yes, I am in need of a lieutenant, my last one had a change of heart. You believe you're qualified?" Was Robotnik's answer.  
  
"I believe I am more than qualified, and unlike your last lieutenant I am a very loyal hedgehog. But first things first, have you recently captured a Sonic Hedgehog?"  
  
"Yes, but what's it to you? Do you know him?"  
  
"Well... If you need a lieutenant."  
  
"You're hired, though I warn you that in a few hours he'll be six feet under."  
  
"Bah, doesn't matter, I want him dead, he could bring you more trouble than you'd think."  
  
---  
  
With the Lieutenant and our heroes  
  
---  
  
"Hey, is there an evac camp in Casino Night?" Juke asked as she flew down the mountain.  
  
"Yeah, why? And if this mountain's gonna blow, won't Casino Night be too close?" Tails answered with his own question.  
  
"Because we need to get somewhere to stay the night. Besides, The only thing that's gonna burn is Green Hill, Metropolis at the worst."  
  
Tails was confused as to why a volcano would only erupt on one side, but didn't bother asking because it was the type of question that would only give you more questions.  
  
---  
  
Nighttime  
  
---  
  
Sonic was in bad shape, he was still unconscious. Juke was hovering through Casino Nights ravaged streets. She scanned her surroundings and spotted a rabbit entering an underground tunnel.   
  
"Must be an evac camp!" Juke thought as she soared full speed to where the man was. "Hey! What's down there?"  
  
"Evac camp." Came the man's no nonsense reply.  
  
"Thanks." And with that, Juke maneuvered her way into the underground shelter.  
  
"Hey, can we get some beds here?" Juke shouted amongst the roar of the crowd. This must have been the only camp.   
  
"Yeah, go to New Fork, New Fork, they'll let you stay free." Replied an attendant.  
  
With some last second thinking, Juke asked, "Can I get some gauze and tape? I just ran out."  
  
"Sure, here," Replied the attendant as she pulled two rolls from a cabinet, one of gauze and one of tape.  
  
"Thanks!" Juke yelled as she hovered out into the night.  
  
---  
  
Scrap Brain Zone  
  
---  
  
Shady Hedgehog arrived in his spiffy looking hoverboard, complete with missiles. He walked up and firmly shook Robotnik's hand. "Shady hedgehog, at your service. And to show you my loyalty, I would like to introduce a project."  
  
Robotnik nodded his head.  
  
"A specialized robotic Silver Hedgehog. A Silver Sonic. Take any creature you have captured and encase them in metal. You can not only alter their brains, but the metal gives them armor, and you can give them weapons!" Shady explained, obviously excited.  
  
"I like it!" Robotnik exclaimed. "I'll start on it tomorrow. Oh, by the way Shady, about Sonic..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How do you know him?"  
  
"Well, Robotnik, sir, he's... He's my nephew." 


	6. A New Beginning

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 6: A new beginning  
  
* H-L-K is a "word" I use in place of a certain four-letter word. It's pronounced just how ya see it, Letter h, Letter, l, and Letter K.  
  
---  
  
Room 768- New Fork, New Fork Hotel  
  
---  
  
Sonic groaned loudly and opened his sore eyes. It wasn't only his eyes that were sore though, his whole body mercilessly ached. He laid there, mind running through the last things he remembered. He wondered why he wasn't dead, and didn't Robotnik say something about Mt. Marble erupting?  
  
The blue hedgehog painfully sat up and observed the room. He took a look at the bed he was in, it was very plush, as was the rest of the room. He concluded that he had to be in a hotel room- albeit a very expensive room.  
  
Two beds and a couch. Tails was on the other bed and someone he didn't recognize was on the couch, a lime green hedgehog. The fox and hedgehog were both asleep and the room was dark-- save for the massive amounts of light flooding into the room from the surrounding hotels. He somehow got to his feet and limped over (with the help of the wall) to the window. He had forgotten how beautiful Casino Night was at night. The last time he'd been there was when he was five. He'd always wished he could return- though not under these circumstances. Lights danced around in circular motions around the centers of the neon signs.   
  
However, as beautiful as it was, it wasn't the same Casino Night that Sonic had visited in the past. This Casino Night carried the same feel of death and destruction as Metropolis had, and, Sonic realized, somewhere in the city, was a person feeling the same way as Sonic had when he was faced with the attack of Metropolis-- The feeling that his life was over and that he'd lost all he'd ever had. Little did the blue hedgehog know, that that person was less than ten feet away in the same room, sleeping on the couch.  
  
---  
  
Scrap Brain Zone  
  
---  
  
"Sir, what is your next plan?" Shady asked.  
  
"I plan on making another example to the world of my awesome power. Some would call it an act of terrorism. I look at it as an opportunity. I have managed to gather some SWATbots who are better programmed, and to top that off, I've equipped their feet with padding to make them stealthy as well." Robotnik revealed. "I plan to dump ALL of the oil from petron's refinery into the mobian ocean off of the western coast of the Easin continent so it will flow right into the Mobian continent's east coast. It will poison all sea animals."  
  
"Sir, you are brilliant, however, I believe you might find it to your advantage Doctor, to start on project Silver immediately, you will surely have an easier time with the operation." Came Shady's reply.  
  
"Hmm... Perhaps you have a point. Alright, but what type of creature will we need, Lieutenant?"  
  
"Well, I said it was a silver sonic for a reason. This Sonic creature you have supposedly "executed" he happened to inherit a trait for extraordinary speed, I too possess the speed trait, but my speed limit isn't nearly as much  
  
as Sonic's. Imagine what you could do with Sonic's speed!"  
  
"Yes... But where are you going with this, Lieutenant?"  
  
The malicious hedgehog smirked. "You know where I'm going with this, sir. And trust me, the results will be well worth it."  
  
---  
  
Back at Casino Night  
  
---  
  
In back of the buildings was a gargantuan monster. Not the Godzilla type of monster, the type of monster that threatens to annihilate all that lives near it: A volcano, or, more specifically, Mount Marble. It was pretty well camouflaged by the darkened night sky, but illuminated in a ghostly way by the city's neon lights.   
  
However, the monster had been contained through a climate control system that "cut off it's anger"...  
  
"...Wait a sec." Sonic remembered. "Someone altered the climate control, so that means..." Sonic well knew what it meant, it meant two words, too and late, and that was confirmed by the ear-shattering explosion and the presence of the monster's blood that seemed to come from nowhere, as the monster itself was invisible.   
  
The green hedgehog and the fox all jolted awake and ran toward the window.  
  
Sonic didn't notice their presence, the one thing he did notice was that he was in no danger at all, the mountain was flowing out of one side.  
  
"That's mondo bizarro, but... Oh no!" Sonic shouted as he realized that if his parents had somehow survived the attack on his hometown, that they'd be killed by the lava.  
  
"Whoa, Whoa kid, we're all gonna be fine." The lime hedgehog said, trying to calm Sonic.  
  
"WE are gonna be fine, my parents in Metropolis, if they're alive, are majorly NOT gonna be fine." Sonic angrily responded.  
  
"Okay, okay. Geez..."  
  
"And seriously, who are you? For all I know, you could be one of Robotnik's assassins and trying to kill me."   
  
"I am Robotnik's ex-lieutenant, Juke the Hedgehog."   
  
"What!" Sonic yelled. He turned around and attempted to punch the lime creature. He was way too slow and Juke grabbed his hand in mid-air.  
  
"You're lucky, kid. If I was still working for that jerk, I could hold you like this, pull out my blaster and cook you... Well done too." Juke added, and eyed the hedgehog's shoulder. "You got lucky there, you wouldn't have been so lucky now."  
  
Sonic couldn't believe that he was face-to-face with the same person who had shot him, a female hedgehog. He felt nothing but anger towards her, even though she had called Robotnik a jerk.  
  
He slapped his hand away and went to punch her again-- With the same result.  
  
"Stop it Sonic!" Tails yelled.  
  
"Stay outta this one Tails." Sonic replied.  
  
"But she saved your life! Please stop!"  
  
"Yeah, sure, the only life she'd save would be--"  
  
"Actually, I did save your life, I bandaged your shoulder, reduced the pain in your shoulder, booked this room and I freed you and that other kid over there." Juke interjected.  
  
Sonic looked stunned. "Okay... You shoot me and then you bandage my shoulder? I don't understand..."  
  
"Robotnik killed my parents in this city's attack. I was fed up before, but this was the last straw. I didn't know what to do, I feel like I've lost everything, and in a way, I have. So I did whatever I could to cripple Robotnik's operation. I killed the climate control system and made Mount Marble erupt, and then I rescued you and split."  
  
"Uh-huh... So, what do you plan on doing?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Tagging along, I'm with you. I told you, I've lost everything, I need to start over, I need a new beginning. The question now is, What do YOU want to do?"  
  
"I want to kill Robotnik, rip him into pieces and watch him bleed. He killed my parents too, Tail's parents was another victims, man I tell ya, what goes around is gonna come around, and I'm gonna see to it."  
  
"Uh-uh, no chance. If he dies, his robots get activated against us and we all die."  
  
"Oh yeah..."  
  
"Plus, with that wimpy punch, you think you's gonna just walk up, say 'you killed my parents you dirty piece of h-l-k*, and now I'm gonna kill you, hi-ya!' No way. That will NEVER happen."  
  
"So... what do we do?"  
  
"We find a trainer.Teach ya how to punch, kick and survive. I know just where to find a good one too. He's the only survivor of an anciant tribe. Noone knows how they were wiped out. Legend has it that there was a huge earthquake. Whatever it did, it was done good, because now that island's floating in the sky." Juke explained.  
  
"Whoa," Sonic gasped.  
  
"The island is absolutely huge. It's so huge, if it was shaped just right, Robotnik could fit one of his huge flagship's on it. Imagine, with that size, and only one person on the whole island."  
  
"Well, at least we wont have trouble finding the right guy."  
  
"Yeah, but you'll have trouble finding the guy in the first place. ...Well, I guess that would be for most people, luckily I know where his hideout is."  
  
"Well, at least something's gone good today."   
  
"Don't jinx yourself kid, I heard he ain't to friendly, heck, even his name is creepy."  
  
"Name? We actually KNOW who we're looking for? I think I'm gonna die."  
  
"He goes only by... The Guardian."  
  
"Oh, great, I thought we were getting a name, not an alias."  
  
"That's not important now, kid. We all need to get some sleep. That kid over there was smart." She pointed behind her to the bed where Tails was.  
  
"Yeah..." Sonic admitted.  
  
---  
  
A lab in the scrap brain zone  
  
---  
  
"Lieutenant, are you sure this will work? You know I will not tolerate failure." Robotnik asked. The project was too good to be true. It would take a LONG time to develop. About 3 years the first time to make a single Silver Sonic. He needed to first develop the neuro chips, and then plan the wiring, and then how to encase the hedgehog without suffocating it. After it was done, he would have a super soldier and be ready to create a thousand more.  
  
He could wait three years to take over the world if it meant little-to-no resistance. But boy, was Robotnik in for a huge awakening.  
  
---  
  
Next Time: The search for The Guardian begins! But Project Silver also begins... Ut-oh! 


	7. Project SILVER

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 7: Project S.I.L.V.E.R  
  
---  
  
Scrap Brain Zone  
  
---  
  
"Robotnik, Sir, I've returned with the metal you've requested. Grade AAA ultra-thick silver 3-inch thick armor type sheets." Lieutenant Shady announced as he entered the engineering room. This event marked the Beginning of Project S.I.L.V.E.R, or, as it stands for "Superbly Intelligent Lifeform Vessembled by engineer Robotnik." Shady had come up with the acronym himself. (It was obvious he didn't know how to spell "assembled")  
  
"Excellent Work, Lieutenant. This day will go down in the history books as the day I begin my long trip down the road to becoming the master of the universe!!! "Robotnik yelled. And with that, he laughed a very psychotic laugh.  
  
---  
  
Early the next morning just outside Casino Night  
  
---  
  
"According to the last visit to Casino Night," Juke started, "The Floating Island should be right over Mushroom Hill..."  
  
"Okay... That's about a couple days east of here, right past Hill Top, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"But, how do we get up there?"  
  
"We'll figure that out when we get there."  
  
---  
  
Back at Scrap Brain  
  
---  
  
Back at Scrap Brain, Robotnik was busy at his desk tweaking with the blueprints of all of the different ways he could assemble the Silver Hedgehog. None of them looked any good. A hedgehog on all fours, a six appendage hedgehog, even a hedgehog with no head, although, Robotnik realized, could be a bit of a problem when he went to fit the actual hedgehog into the metal.  
  
"Shady, look at these! I can't work with any of these!" Robotnik yelled, obviously frustrated.  
  
"Robotnik, sir. Why don't you just build the hedgehog upright like the real thing?" Shady suggested.  
  
Robotnik sighed. "I don't know why I didn't think of that before, Shady! I like you, you've got a real technical mind. I should have booted my old Lieutenant long ago!"  
  
Shady's lips curled into an evil grin. "Thank you Robotnik, sir. It is an honor to serve one of your greatness."   
  
---  
  
One day later- Hill Top  
  
---  
  
The golden sun shone brightly over the lush plains of the Hill Top Zone. Sonic rolled over and opened his eyes.  
  
"Wow." Sonic thought aloud as he sat up. "I'ma have to get used to sleeping without a pillow."  
  
Juke laughed. "I take it you didn't sleep to well, eh?"  
  
"Uh-uh."   
  
"You'll get used to that and a million other discomforts. I hear the Guardian is a rough, primitive guy."  
  
"Great, just what I need. I mean, at least Tails gets a blanket!!!" Sonic pointed over to where Tails was still sleeping, tails over his body.  
  
"Wha?" Tails asked as he began to awaken.  
  
"Forget it," came Sonic's answer.  
  
"Sonic," Juke began, "We should cover as much ground as we can today. You had to slow down yesterday just for my hoverboard to keep up. If we go full speed today, we can actually make it to the Floating Island tonight."  
  
"Yeah, how we gonna do that?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I got some rope in my pack. I'll tie one end to your waist, wrap part of it to me, and then lay down on the board." Juke explained as she took off her pack and pulled out a long rope.  
  
Sonic eyed the rope with skepticism. "Ya sure that thing's long and strong enough? It looks old and ratty."  
  
Juke shot the blue hedgehog an angry glare. "You kidding me? This is about the strongest rope there is!"  
  
"Whatever you say."   
  
"Are we gonna go already?" Tails asked, standing impatiently by Sonic.  
  
"Whatever. Ready Juke?" Sonic asked. Robotnik's ex-Lieutenant nodded as she tied the rope around her waist and laid down on her hoverboard.  
  
"Alright!" Sonic yelled as Tails grabbed onto the blue hedgehog's back. "It's time to juice!"  
  
---  
  
Scrap Brain Zone  
  
---  
  
"Uh, Robotnik, sir. I think you'll want to see this." Shady said, staring at a computer monitor.  
  
"What is it, Lieutenant?" Robotnik asked.  
  
"Look, check this out, your previous Lieutenant forgot to take off her comm unit. I'm tracing her right now!"  
  
"Oh yes! Now I can track her and kill her for treason." Robotnik said as he realized the importance of this information.  
  
"BUT... Check this. With her, is a blue hedgehog."  
  
"A blue hedgehog?" Robotnik asked, scratching his head. "Who cares? There's millions of blue hedgehogs."  
  
"Sir, this isn't just ANY blue hedgehog. This hedgehog is running 250 miles per hour."   
  
"Impossible!" Robotnik shouted. "He died in the eruption!"  
  
"Apparently not. Like I said, he could bring you more trouble than you'd think."  
  
"Argh!" Robotnik yelled, pounding his desk with both of his fists as hard as he could. "Lieutenant, follow him, take the best SWATbots and KILL HIM!!!"  
  
---  
  
8 Hours later  
  
---  
  
"Look! There it is, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed.   
  
The Floating Island was HUGE! So huge, in fact, that Mushroom Hill was cast in darkness. Sonic rolled to a stop.  
  
"How we 'spose to get up there?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Stay connected. Sonic, grab my hands, I'll fly you up there!" Tails instructed.  
  
"Wow! I forgot you could fly Tails."  
  
"That kid can fly?" Juke asked.  
  
"Yeah, with his Tails."  
  
"Alright, Sonic! Away we go!" Tails yelled.  
  
The trio began to ascend.  
  
50 feet. Tails was rapidly ascending. Sonic was holding onto Tails' hands and Juke was hanging onto her hoverboard.  
  
"Man, what did I get myself into this time?" Juke asked herself.  
  
250 feet. Sonic's grip was beginning to loosen and Juke was beginning to get acrophobia.  
  
350 feet. "What the heck?" Tails asked as he read a sign. "You must be good to have made it this high up. Step into the elevator and be taken up to the Floating Island."  
  
And Tails obeyed. He flew high enough to ease Juke into the elevator, before moving into the elevator himself. Tails gasped for air. "I... Was... Begin... Ing... To... Lose... You... Son... Ic."  
  
"You can say that again." Sonic replied.  
  
The elevator doors slid open. Barely visible aways away was a Red echidna. He wasn't dresses in any fancy robes or anything to even represent a guardian. In fact, he wasn't dressed at all. However, Sonic had no time at all to take in his surroundings, as the Echidna gave a warcry of "intruders!!!" and charged at the blue hedgehog.  
  
Sonic stepped out in front and smirked. Tails attempted to go and help Sonic, but was held back by Juke's right hand. Her left hand was on the blaster, firmly in place in it's holster.  
  
"The kid'll be fine. If he ain't, I've got my blaster here." Juke tried to assure the shaking fox, but, in truth, she knew Sonic wouldn't be alright, well, totally alright anyways.  
  
The red echidna charged at The blue hedgehog. Sonic braced for impact and watched as the echidna turned to his side in mid-run and rammed Sonic shoulder-first. Sonic flew through the air for several feet before landing with a loud thump.   
  
Sonic sat up in pain and slightly dazed before quickly rolling away just in time before The Guardian lept and planted his fist into where Sonic's head would have been. Sonic noticed one distinct thing about the echidna (aside from his superior strength): His knuckles extended into long spikes. The hedgehog realized how badly one of those to anywhere would hurt.  
  
Sonic charged at the recovering, off-guard guardian and attempted to punch him. The hedgehog's punch was much quicker than it had been back in Casino Night, but as quick as it was, the guardian launched into a short forward somersault, jumped up, grabbed Sonic's shoulder, and slammed the blue hedgehog to the ground.  
  
Sonic was too sore and weakened to get up, or even move for that matter. He was surprised at not only the guardians speed and agility, but his techniques. He'd NEVER seen a move like the one that'd been used on him.  
  
The Guardian turned his head to Juke and Tails and asked angrily, "What are you intruders looking at!" He turned his gaze back to the beaten hedgehog, whose consciousness was quickly slipping. "What are you intruders doing here?"  
  
Sonic's eyes fell shut and he managed to whisper his last word, "Guardian."  
  
The guardian stood up. "What are you intruders doing here?"  
  
"These two kids wish to be trained to fight against Dr. Ivo Robotnik's invading forces."  
  
The guardian looked back at the hedgehog. "He'll need much training. He is one of the worst fighters I have EVER faced. I can't believe he's serious."  
  
"How long will it take to train him?" Juke asked.  
  
"On the average, three years, give or take a couple months. It depends, really on how fast the two learn."  
  
"Three YEARS!!!" Tails exclaimed. "That's like forever!"  
  
"Hmm..." The Guardian thought. "This could be tough." 


	8. Bringing Out the True Blue in You

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 8: Bringing out the True Blue In You.  
  
---  
  
Five Hours Later  
  
---  
  
Sonic sat up in his bed. Well... He honestly didn't know whether or not to call it a bed, it was just a pile of straw inside a primitve hut. The blue hedgehog had been laying there for a while. Sonic knew what was going on. The echidna was trying to make a point. The echidna had beaten Sonic in a matter of a punch and a throw. The point was, if Sonic couldn't beat a flesh-and-blood echidna, how was he suppose to beat a robot made of metal?   
  
Sonic got to his feet and exited the hut. Outside, it was night time, the stars brightly shining as if the sky didn't exist. Sitting on some logs, were the echidna, the ex-lieutenant, and the fox.  
  
"Welcome back, Sonic." The Guardian said.   
  
Sonic was confused. He thought he was "intruder" and how the heck did the Guardian know his name?  
  
"Your friends have been telling me about you and Robotnik's assault. Sit down please." The Guardian began. Sonic obeyed, taking a seat on the log next to Tails. "As you have probably guessed, I am the Guardian, Knuckles the Echidna. You may call me either guardian or Knuckles until the end of your three year training." The guardian explained, until Sonic interrupted.  
  
"Three YEARS? Do you know how many people Robotnik will kill in the meantime?"  
  
"Yes, I realize that. But do you realize how many people will be killed if you die trying to save them? Three years turns to ten, maybe Twenty."  
  
Sonic nodded. Knuckles did have a point. "So, why does this training take so long?"  
  
"Because, I'm going to bring out the true blue in you, Sonic. When I'm done, you'll realize that if you can survive my training, you can survive anything. If you need to breach a door, you'll know how. If you need to place explosives, you'll know how to. You won't be alone though, Tails will be training with you as well."  
  
"Wait, where's Juke going?" Tails asked.  
  
"Heh. I already went through boot camp, it's your turn. I'll probably return to what's left of Casino Night, try to rebuild my house maybe." Juke answered.  
  
"I guess we'll have to come and get you when we're done, eh Juke?" Sonic questioned.  
  
"I guess so."  
  
  
  
"I'll drop the zipline down Juke, you may leave now." Knuckles said as he threw and extremely long rope overboard.   
  
The ex-lieutenant of Robotnik gripped the rope, gave a salute, and descended down the rope.  
  
Sonic kept looking at the empty rope, she had looked sad, but had known it had to be done. Would he end up leaving one of his friends to die in the heat of battle?  
  
"Sonic..." Knuckles called.  
  
"Yea! What?" Sonic asked as he snapped awake from his daydream.  
  
"We need to get started."   
  
"Yeah... I guess we should." Sonic agreed.  
  
---  
  
Eight Hours Later  
  
---  
  
Sonic crawled on his hands and knees to where his hut was. He felt the seat drip down his body as he crawled across the Floating Island's grassy plains.  
  
He reached the door, turned the doorknob, and pulled it open. He had little time to react as an axe propped against the door fell forward. Sonic rolled to the side as Knuckles had taught. Sonic was too late though and it fell on his left ankle.  
  
Surprisingly to Sonic, he still had his left foot, be it in pain, but it was still attached to his body. The axe was not sharp at all, it was just made of heavy metal, like a weight. Sonic rubbed his hurting ankle.  
  
Out from the darkness stepped Knuckles the Guardian.  
  
"I thought I told you to be ready for anything." Knuckles scolded.  
  
"Yeah, but not at my own house, I mean, geez, who would be stupid enough to rig a door with an axe?" Sonic asked. Knuckles gave him a swift kick to the stomach. "Ow..."  
  
"You DO NOT call anything that happens 'stupid' EVERYTHING that will happen to you will happen for a reason. If anyone's is stupid, it's you. I mean, like you said, noone would come home expecting an axe in their door. What the "enemy" has done is created a tactical advantage over you. They have won."  
  
"Uh-huh." Sonic replied.  
  
"If that had been a real axe, you would have been one foot shorter right now. You may go to your hut and sleep now, see you in five hours."  
  
"FIVE HOURS?"  
  
"Yes, you heard me, five hours. I will see you then." Knuckles said dully as he walked away.  
  
Sonic wordlessly crawled into his hut. But before he reached his straw pile, he found a book and pen with a note attached.  
  
"Hello Sonic, I expect you to write about your lessons and experiances in this book EVERY NIGHT. Over the years, you'll find out just how much you've done here and how bad you were to begin with- Signed, Guardian Knuckles."  
  
"Hmm... Okay. I guess it couldn't hurt anything." Sonic thought as he began to write.  
  
---  
  
1st day of Training-- 5/22/4459  
  
Today was my first day of training. I can't believe how hard he expects me to work. He's running me to my death like a machine. Today he first had my give him "my best shot" at fighting him. That turned into a majorly one-sided battle. Knuckles found "my openings" left and right. After that, he taught me a couple basic punches and kicks. He said he would teach me counters tomorrow. After that he made me do these mondo weird exercises. Why can't I just run? Tails actually got to go home and sleep BEFORE the dumb exercises. He is so lucky. Knuckles says it's because I'm older than him, but I don't think so.  
  
He told me to be ready for anything and to not trust anyone. I guess that means I can't trust him either. He put an axe in my door, if it would have been sharp, this hedgehog'd have one less foot. And to top it all off, after working me like that, I only get four and a half hours of sleep. Less if I don't shut this book right now. So I will, I need all the sleep I can get.  
  
---  
  
Sonic shut the book and threw it to his side. He turned over and immediately fell asleep. 


	9. Green Meets Green

SuperSonic Speed: Chapter 9-- Green meets Green  
  
---  
  
Two Months Later  
  
---  
  
Sonic sat up in his bed of straw. Reaching over to his right, he picked up his journal and began to read his last entry.  
  
---  
  
Just another day-- 7/30/4459  
  
Every night I crawl into my straw bed, I feel like I'm gonna die, and every day I wake up sore from both the other day's work and the bruises. Knuckles works me way too hard. I rearranged my straw bed so that it's in the corner and I can see outside through my window. Knuckles says it's a dumb idea because the enemy can see in and pre-plan an attack, but that's just dumb because I can see them approaching first.  
  
Knuckles told me about what I'm gonna learn each of these years. He said first year is mostly just learning how to fight and a little bit of survival. Second year is mostly survival and third year is half survival and half military technique, which is like using bombs and stuff. The cool stuff.  
  
So far, I've learned enough so that Knuckles doesn't kill me with his first punch. I've got some punches and kicks down, but these counters suck. I just can't get them.   
  
Knuckles says though that I'm good enough to take down an ordinary robot, and I guess that's all that matters.  
  
I don't see much of Tails anymore, Knuckles has him on a completely different sleep schedrule. From what I hear though, he ain't doing as well as me. Knuckles says that for as bad as I was, he's never seen such an incredible fighter in so little time. He said that I could be the beginning of something great. Heh. Robotnik better watch out, because Sonic the Hedgehog is coming for him.  
  
---  
  
A House in Casino Night  
  
---  
  
Lieutenant Juke stepped out of her bedroom, now dressed for combat. Navy Blue Combat jacket, combat pants, and brown combat boots. She was ready to go after Robotnik, rip out the circuitry in all of his robots and then kill the madman himself.   
  
She could see herself now, standing atop the quivering form of Robotnik, foot on his stomach, gun aimed at his head, the madman begging for mercy. He would see none. It was nighttime in Casino Night, possibly the only place in the world where there was no true night. The lights made sure of that. Her hoverboard whirred quietly, waiting for Juke to jump on.   
  
The Lieutenant had been tipped off that Robotnik had built a new base located on the Floating Island in the ruins of the Sandopolis Pyramid. How the madman (or mad fool, she didn't know which) had gotten past Knuckles unnoticed, was a mystery to her, but what she did know, was that now was the perfect time to kill Robotnik, when he was expecting to have the entire island to himself.She jumped on her hoverboard and rode off into the "night".  
  
---  
  
Back on the Floating Island-- 3 hours later  
  
---  
  
A knock on his hut. Knuckles and a sweaty Tails were outside his hut door. Sonic pushed the door open.  
  
"Whatcha need Knux?" Sonic asked.  
  
"DO NOT call me that! Tou may refer to me as 'Knuckles' or as 'Guardian',"  
  
Came The Guardian's irritated reply.  
  
"Okay, Okay, Geez!"  
  
"Come with me, there is something I would like to show you."  
  
"Uh, sure, whatever."  
  
"Hey Sonic! Knuckles says he has something really cool to show us! I bet he stole one of Robotnik's robots!" Tails said excitedly.  
  
"Cool." Came Sonic's reply.  
  
The trio arrived at Knuckles' hut. The red echidna pulled the door open. Directly in front was a computer, the monitor displaying video feed.  
  
"This falls under the 'military technique' category, but this is important, so I thought I'd show you early."  
  
"What is it?" Sonic asked.  
  
"It is a recon computer. There is a group called the Chaotix that live on this Island in the Ice Cap mountains." Knuckles began.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec. I thought you were the only person living on the island?" Sonic asked, obviously confused.  
  
"That is what you're supposed to think. They help keep the island safe where I am not able to see. They create technological devices which I use to keep the island safe. They deal in chaos and politics, which is why this Robotnik guy is of particular interest to them. Take a look at the screen."  
  
Sonic and Tails looked at the screen. On it was a compound in the middle of the desert at night.  
  
"This is a new base of Robotnik's unearthed by the system. We have no idea where it is or what kind of activites he is using the base for." Knuckles explained. "The Chaotix say they will call me immediately if they see anything important. You two can go now. There will be no training today, I need to check out this base."  
  
Sonic and Tails turned to each other and smiled.  
  
"Hey! Do not think you are getting off easy. Tomorrow you will do double the work." Knuckles announced. The announcement was met with groans.  
  
---  
  
8 hours later  
  
---  
  
Sonic, for once was dry and asleep at a decent hour. Well... He was until an extremely loud and rushed knocking at his door jolted him awake.  
  
"Sonic! SONIC!" Knuckles frantically yelled. "Get dressed in your combat clothes and get to my hut double time!!!"   
  
"I wonder what's so important?" Sonic thought. "And combat clothes? He said we wouldn't need these for two years! I can't stand the dirty black jacket and pants!"  
  
Just that moment, Tails ran into Sonic's hut dressed completely in black clothes.  
  
"Sonic! Hurry! We have to go to Knuckles' hut! He says it's an emergency!" Tails yelled.  
  
"Emergency? This can't be cool. Get onto my back so we can juice outta here!"  
  
Tails obeyed and Sonic rushed out of the hut, running at supersonic speed.  
  
In less than a minute, Sonic arrived at the Guardian's hut, inside the echidna was glued to the screen of his recon computer.  
  
Tails jumped off of the hedgehog's back. "What did you need Knuckles?"   
  
"Sonic, you know that base I showed you earlier?"  
  
"Yeah? What about it?"  
  
"That base is by the ruins of Sandopolis, about One-hundred miles away from here. AND it is on this island!"  
  
"But that's impossible!" Sonic yelled.  
  
"Nothing's impossible Sonic. That's what my mom said." Tails told Sonic.  
  
"Tails is right, Sonic. Nothing is impossible. But... oh my gosh, take a look at the screen!" Knuckles yelled.  
  
On the screen, barely recognizable except for her bright lime green head, was Lieutenant Juke.  
  
"What she doin' there?" Sonic asked.  
  
---  
  
Sandopolis Zone  
  
---  
  
Lieutenant Juke crept through the outside of Robotnik's base, carefully hiding from SWATbot patrols. Light flooded down from above and illuminated the sandy ground, giving the base a ghostly feel. Gun in her left hand, the wall against her right, head down. The back of her head was covered in Dark navy blue, no one would be able to tell who or what she was from the back.  
  
She kept quietly running, making sure to pick up her feet as she ran. A tactic Robotnik had taught her. She found it funny that the same tactics Robotnik had taught her, were now being used against him.  
  
She needed to take a rest, she was becoming fatigued. Juke turned her back to the outside of the base and hugged against the wall, near the corner.   
  
Turning her back to the enemy was normally an unwise move. But showing off her lime green face was just as risky. She holstered her gun, held her hands against the wall, and began to breathe.  
  
---  
  
Inside Robotnik's Base  
  
---  
  
"Robotnik sir. Swatbot patrol Eta has spotted a lime green female hedgehog out side the compound on their scanners." Lieutenant Shady announced.  
  
"Hmm... Any pictures?" Robotnik asked.  
  
"Yes sir, here." Lieutenant Shady replied, handing Robotnik the pictures.  
  
"Hmm... Just as I thought. that is my ex-lieutenant Juke, the traitor."   
  
"Initiate Code Delta, sir?" Shady asked.  
  
"Yes, but take this video camera, I want to make sure I see this."  
  
---  
  
Back with Lieutenant Juke  
  
---  
  
Juke inhaled deeply. She was ready to go. She turned around, ready to turn the corner, but to her extreme surprise, a SWATbot blocked her path. She gasped and turned to run, but another SWATbot was blocking her exit. There were three more too. She was surrounded.  
  
A shout came from the crowd. "Traitor! Throw down your weapon. Got down and your knees and put your hands behind your head!!!" The voice wasn't robotic in the least. A blue hedgehog with streaks of black in his spikes stepped out from behind the crowd. "Do it now!!!" the hedgehog yelled.   
  
The terrified Juke hesistently obeyed. Robotnik had told her never to surrender, but Juke wasn't stupid. She wouldn't stand a chance now. Her gun was holstered and she was too nervous to think clearly. She had recognized the patch on the mysterious hedgehog's shoulder immediately.  
  
"I see Robotnik's hired a new Lieutenant." Juke said dully.  
  
"You're correct. I am Robotnik's new and LOYAL Lieutenant Shady. And I am here to personally oversee the capture of his traitor. Robotnik didn't let you in this. But, when he captures traitors, he gives them a special formula.   
  
Trust me, you ain't gonna like this one bit. When I'm done with you, you'll see that Robotnik is quite the chemist. SWATbots, bind her!"  
  
The robots obeyed and the leader pulled out his bindings. Another swatbot pulled Juke's arms behind her back and crossed them as far as they would go. She gasped in pain as the freedom of her arms was taken.  
  
"Very good. Now hold her still." Shady commanded as he pulled out a syringe of bubbling green liquid. "Do you like shots Lieutenant? I hope not, because this one will be the most painful one of your life." Shady asked, laughing psychotically afterward.   
  
Pulling back Juke's sleeve, Shady held the needle back, and then fiercely stabbed her. Juke yelled in pain as the green liquid infiltrated her insides.   
  
"Release her!" Shady yelled. The robots obeyed and Shady watched the traitor's torture.  
  
Juke had no idea what kind of poison Shady had used. All she knew was that it hurt like nothing she had ever felt and that she was growing increasingly tired. From the pain or the poison, she didn't know which.   
  
Juke began to wobble as she fought to stay awake. Shady's laugh resonated throughout her head along with the incrdible pain. She wished Shady would just pull out his pistol and then that would be that. But she knew he wouldn't. He was watching her pain as if it were a personal hobby of his.   
  
She couldn't think straight. The last thing she saw was Shady's Evil grin and then nothing as she fell forward and her head hit the ground like a rock. 


	10. Head Start

SuperSonic Speed-- Chapter 10: Head Start   
  
---  
  
Back on the Floating Island  
  
---  
  
"What the heck's going on down there?" Sonic asked, puzzled.  
  
Knuckles held up his radio and shouted, "Charmy, I need a zoom!"  
  
"Charmy?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yeah, he's a member of the Chaotix. He's the one working with the technical controls right now, see?" Knuckles pointed toward the now zoomed-in screen.   
  
The trio watched in shock as the lime-green hedgehog was subjected to some other hedgehog's torture. They watched as Juke wobbled and fell. They saw the other, darker hedgehog pull something out of his sleeve, and put it back in.  
  
"I don't like that guy at all," Sonic commented. "Knuckles, can you zoom in on him?"  
  
"Sure thing," Knuckles replied as he pulled out his radio. "Charmy, gimme a zoom on the darker hedgehog."  
  
Sonic watched as a blue hedgehog with black spikes came into view. "Y'know, that guy kinda looks familiar, but..."  
  
"Forget about it Sonic." Knuckles said. "You do not want to give it another thought, trust me."  
  
"Alright... But what are you gonna do? You can't just leave her to die." Sonic said.  
  
"I could." Knuckles replied.  
  
"What do you mean 'you could'! You can't just leave someone to die!!!" The blue hedgehog yelled.  
  
"I said I could, I never said I would." The guardian began. "When you are on a mission, what is more important, the mission, or your comrade? Because you failed the mission, that many more people would have been killed.  
  
However, we must rescue her. She knows where we are, she knows you are here. She knows I am here. If that information gets to Robotnik, we most likely will be done for."  
  
"Good point," Sonic said thoughtfully.  
  
"I can't go alone though. Going alone would be a bad thing."   
  
"True," Sonic admitted, "Okay, hop on my back and we'll juice on outta here!"  
  
"That is equally dumb. We need a plan. Suit up and meet me back here at 0125 hours. Be dressed in your combat uniforms and ready to leave."  
  
"So that's three hours from now, right?" Tails asked.  
  
"Right on." Sonic replied as he began to head back to his hut.  
  
---  
  
Sandopolis  
  
---  
  
Juke opened her eyes as she slowly came to. Her vision was a mess of fuzzy colors, her ears felt badly plugged, and the pain was horrendous. She didn't know where she was, how she got there, and she felt that with as much pain as she was in it really didn't matter.  
  
She turned her head, only to see laser bars. She was obviously in one of Robotnik's highest security cells. She found that she was so tightly bound that she couldn't move her hands or feet in the least.   
  
Suddenly, her memory came flooding back. She remembered the sadistic hedgehog and his poison, and now here she was, likely on Robotnik's death row awaiting the inevitable. She took as best of a look as she could manage at her arms. Her left arm was where the new lieutenant had injected the poison. It was red, swollen and hurting. However, that was nothing compared to her right arm.   
  
The arm had a noticable patch of burnt fur on it. She looked down at it, blood streaked from the wound, and she knew right away why she was in such pain-- The Lieutenant had shot her with the exact same type of pistol as she'd shot Sonic with.  
  
He had obviously waited until she was unconscious so she wouldn't have the strength to try and run away.  
  
Juke slammed her head back against the "bed" of metal sheet in anger. Robotnik would pay, in this life or the next.  
  
---  
  
0125 hours, back with the trio  
  
---  
  
Knuckles handed both Sonic and Tails a backpack and a sheet of paper.  
  
"Yo! What's all this mumbo-jumbo mean?" Sonic asked.  
  
"This is your attack plan, a map of the base. Operation Red Wind. We stick together as a group since you two have no idea on military techniques yet.  
  
The basic idea is this: Get in undetected. If we can do that, we have won. We have no intel on exactly where Juke is being held, but we know that it is most likely in the high-priority cellblock on the easternmost angle." Knuckles began.  
  
"Whoa, wait a sec, angle?"   
  
"Yes, the base is triangular. Now, as I was saying before you interrupted me, we will, go in, grab her, and plant these." Knuckles explained as he held out three fan shaped plastic explosives.  
  
"Wow, tight!" Sonic explained as he reached out to grab an explosive.   
  
Knuckles held his hands back. "No way. Not until your third year."  
  
"Aw man."  
  
"Listen carefully, I need to plant these at each of the angles in order to blow up the entire base, you guys will need to be swift and silent between angles. Pick up your feet as you walk. Most importantly though, do EVERYTHING as I tell you, when I tell you. Your lives and Juke's depend on it."  
  
Sonic nodded. "Hop on my back."  
  
Tails and Knuckles obeyed.   
  
"And remember," Knuckles began, "Stop running 100 meters out."  
  
"Will do, it's juice and jam time!"  
  
---  
  
The hall by Juke's cell was abnormally quiet. A lone SWATbot passed through the hall every two minutes and was her only company. She could tell that something about the SWATbot was different, but she wasn't sure what. Maybe it was the way it walked? No, couldn't be that. Whatever it was, it radiated a sense of pure evil.  
  
What seemed to be an hour had passed since she had initially woke up and the pain hadn't much faded, and Juke became terrified of her fate. She knew Robotnik wouldn't show her any mercy, and she really didn't blame him, she wouldn't show him any either... If she ever got out of the cell alive and with her free will. She wondered what Robotnik had in store for her. She could imagine all of the terrible possibilities.  
  
Maybe, if he didn't kill her, he would turn her into one of his robots. "Nah, not torturous enough for him," Juke thought. "No, he'd want me to die, well at least torture me first." She imagined the psychotic commander pulling out a pistol specially designed to keep the victim alive, and shooting her several times. Or maybe, the new lieutenant would give her more of the poison. It obviously seemed to serve as a torture device... But then she realized something else... He may want to know the location of... He wouldn't... Or would he?  
  
The digital beeps of a passcode being entered sounded in the outside of Juke's cell and the bars fizzled away.   
  
"This is it," Juke thought as the SWATbot walked into the cell. "I'm gonna die." She was terrified, she knew he would dispose of her without a second thought, the man had no conscience.  
  
"Hello, traitor," The robot began. The ex-lieutenant was now shaking with terror.  
  
---  
  
Main Control Room  
  
---  
  
Robotnik laughed maniacly at the traitor's fear, his loyal Lieutenant Shady joining in soon after.   
  
"That test subject is great. Robotnik sir, you are going to fall in love with the results of Project S.I.L.V.E.R. The subject's mind is very easy to manipulate. This new breed of SWATbots will be a mere temporary model until the primary results of Project S.I.L.V.E.R is complete, then, your SWATbots will be obsolete by a thousand years."  
  
"Good, very good, Lieutenant. I'm very impressed with your work." Robotnik replied.  
  
---  
  
100 Meters Outside Sandopolis Base  
  
---  
  
"Okay guys, this is it, no turning back now. Think of this as a head start to your military technique training. Take off your backpacks and grab the silver objects."  
  
Sonic and Tails obeyed.  
  
"Hey! These are metal gloves! What do we need these for?" Sonic asked.  
  
"These are for robot encounters. DO you really expect to hit a robot and damage it with your plain fist? Chances are, that you will be the only one hurt. These gloves also have padded insides too."  
  
"Sonic! does that mean I getta fight a robot?" Tails asked.  
  
"Naw, leave thre fightin' to me. That robots'll be scrap when I'm done with 'em." Sonic bragged.  
  
Knuckles took out a pair of binoculars. "Hmm... Interesting. An old-fasioned sandstone wall. It even has a doorknob. Follow behind me into the east door, I will have to breach the door, wait for my signal before entering." Knuckles put his binoculars away and put his backpack on his back. "Ready... GO!!!"  
  
The red echidna charged full speed at the sandstone door, the hedgehog and fox following a couple of feet behind. The door grew in size at a dangerous pace, Knuckles prepared to make his move...  
  
10 feet... In range  
  
9...  
  
8...  
  
7...  
  
6...  
  
5... Almost...  
  
4...  
  
3...   
  
2... Knuckles turned to his side, stiffened his shoulder and slammed into the door with a loud bang. Once inside his momentum carried him to the floor.   
  
"Okay guys! We're in! GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" Knuckles softly yelled.  
  
---  
  
Juke's cell  
  
---  
  
"SWATbots that talk?" Juke thought, "This ain't good, Robotnik's got some new kind of technology going on."  
  
"How are you feeling today? Hopefully in alot of pain. It's time for your Daily shot. Hold still, although that shouldn't be much of a problem since your bound."  
  
Juke felt the needle go in and the green liquid inside her body. She felt the exact same type of pain as last time, although there was no way she could curl up and clutch anything with her bindings. She began to feel tired. The room began to shift diagonally, one way and then the other before it began to spin. She fought to stay awake and heard the clash of metal against metal. She wondered what that could be, she had never heard of SWATbots fighting each other. That was all she could manage to stay awake for and the world dissolved into a bottemless pit before she could hear anything else. 


	11. Operation Red Wind

SuperSonic Speed: Chapter 11- Operation Red Wind  
  
---  
  
Inside the base with the trio  
  
---  
  
"If you see a camera, run for it, do not try to break it, Robotnik will notice the white static. Do not wave "hi" to it either, that is the absolute worst thing you could do." Knuckles whispered as he led the trio through the halls. "Look, Eastern cellblock that way. Keep following, you're doing fine."  
  
Sonic was in complete awe at the facility. Every door was sealed with a place for both a color-coded keycard and a numerical keypad. Robotnik did everything in his power to make sure no intruders got in, and no information got out. The only security flaw was a lack of cameras in the hallway and a lack of guards outside. Sonic was shocked at how easily they'd gotten in.  
  
"This guy is obviously arrogant, way too overconfident in his interior security." Knuckles whispered.  
  
"Is that good or bad?" Tails asked.  
  
"It means bad news for both of us, because he's bound to get intruders, but bad for us because he has some mean security and weaponry on the inside.   
  
Be ready for ANYTHING guys, we're coming up on the eastern angle's cellblock. Hopefully we can get in, grab Juke, plant the bomb, and get out. Nothing special, just do your thing. Put your gloves on though, just in case."  
  
---  
  
Eastern Angle Cellblock  
  
---  
  
The specially designed SWATbot tapped in a numerical code into the cells keypad and bars made of electric-blue lasers dropped, blocking the high-security cell's entryway.   
  
A job well done, the SWATbot stood outside the cell, rifle ready for anyone to dare and open the door. Robotnik had given (more like programmed) the SWATbot very simple instructions on what to do if the door opened without beeping first: Shoot First, and ask questions later. Robotnik had given this SWATbot better features, more powerful weaponary, and, faster reaction speed. The robot was deadly machine, a modern day gladiator with a gun in the sword's place. He felt no pain, was helplessly loyal and ready to die, there was no way the traitor would escape, Robotnik made sure of that.  
  
The door to the cellblock opened, the only noise being the door sliding along it's magnetic track. When the opening grew large enough, a streak of crimson flooded through as the robot fired his weapon, anyone outside the door would be dead. The door slid fully open and the robot looked around. There was nothing there, not a door, not a dead body, nothing. The SWATbot walked about a foot forward and got the surprise of his robotic life when his gun was kicked out of his grip. He looked around, but couldn't see anything. Finally, he turned around and looked at his back and found a blue hedgehog with metal fists, leaning against the bot and smirking.  
  
"Good Morning. Looking for this?" The hedgehog asked as he showed the robot it's weapon and proceeded to throw it down to the hard, metallic ground and jump on it.  
  
---   
  
Outside the door  
  
---  
  
"Knuckles! You're nuts! Sonic almost got killed there by the door!" Tails whispered.  
  
"No, I'm not, he was the only one that could get in there without getting shot." Knuckles replied as he stood to the side of the door, inching up to where Sonic had been.  
  
"Knuckles, what do we do if he dies?"  
  
"Run for it."  
  
---  
  
Back inside the cellblock  
  
---  
  
"Initiate Program B, Melee combat... Program Initiatiated." The SWATbot droned, it's eyes glowing a bright, evil crimson.   
  
Sonic stepped away from the robot, getting into position just as the guardian had showed him, right foot in front of the left, fists raised for protection.  
  
"Let's do this." Sonic yelled with complete confidence.   
  
The robot, heavy and slow swung at Sonic, who somersaulted under the punch with ease. Recovering, Sonic swung a wide left punch and hit his target in the center of the SWATbot's back. The blue hedgehog yelled in exitement as he watched his target crumple to the floor. Sonic looked in awe at his hands. They didn't hurt, they weren't scratched. The gloves were really a lifesaver. Sonic was also happy with his newfound abilities. He wished he could watch a replay of himself hitting   
  
However, that was the least of Sonic's worries as the SWATbot got back to it's feet, hardly weakened. The blue hedgehog readied himself and glared in surprise as the SWATbot began to walk down the cellblock. Sonic ran up and attempted to block the SWATbots path, but was merely thrown back by the SWATbot. Hearing the hedgehog's groans of pain, Knuckles and Tails walked in.  
  
A television monitor dropped down from above and the face of Robotnik came into view.  
  
"Hello Sonic, we meet again." The camera zoomed out, revealing the extremely obese form of Robotnik sitting in a computer chair, typing commands into a console. "You know you should be dead. But out of luck, a traitor freed you. Have you enjoyed the test for my line of Mecha Bots. I believe you've already met Macha SWAT?" Robotnik pressed "enter" on his keyboard and the SWATbot turned around and waved to Sonic. The bot stood in place, awaiting orders.  
  
"As you can see, this Mecha bot can be programmed to do anything, and it will comply, no questions asked. The bot is very useful for--"  
  
"I don't care about what kinda crap your robot can do, Robotnik, what about your prisoner?" Sonic asked dully.  
  
"Ah! You mean the traitor, right?" The camera's view switched from Robotnik, to that of Lieutenant Juke lying unconscious fully bound to a metal sheet that served as a painful bed.  
  
"You!!!" Sonic yelled as he climbed to his feet.  
  
"I just gave her a low dose of Vulcan, nothing major. It only causes unconsciousness and pain. Oh, and I had my new Lieutenant shoot her in the arm too, for an extra dose of pain." Robotnik laughed psychotically. "Juke isn't anything special Sonic, you knew she was here, but I have someone else here too." Robotnik teased, his eyes filling with evil joy.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked, puzzled.  
  
"Mecha bot 1, enter cell E10 and extract subject," Robotnik commanded. Sonic watched in awe as the robot complied. "Perhaps you would like to come with, hedgehog?" Sonic began to walk a safe distance behind the robot.  
  
"Don't do it Sonic!" Knuckles urged, "It's a trap!" Sonic refused to listen. Robotnik had something extremely important and he was determined to find out what it was. "Sonic! Your impulsiveness is going to get you killed!"  
  
"If you don't shut up, YOU'RE going to get killed!" Robotnik threatened.   
  
Tails looked to his side, and discovered that Knuckleshad left him. Where was the Echidna anyway? And why would he leave his two trainees?  
  
Mecha SWAT came up on Cell E10 and typed in a code on a numerical keypad. He slid a multi-color-coded card through a special slot and watched as the bars of lasers disintegrated. The bot walked in and Sonic stood in curiousity wondering who could possibly be in cell E10.  
  
The SWATbot walked out of the cell, an awake, female, blue hedgehog in it's grip. Sonic's jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes widened.  
  
"I present to you, Swan Hedgehog." Robotnik announced.  
  
"You... You... You... You... Didn't." Sonic said in complete disbelief.  
  
"What? Can't believe your only a couple feet away from your 'mommy'?" Robotnik laughed a sickening laugh.  
  
"This isn't real. She's just a hologram. You're just trying to hurt me, hit me in anyway you can. It ain't working. I ain't fallin' for your lies."  
  
"Lies? Go ahead and touch her." Robotnik typed in a set of commands and hit "enter" the female hedgehog was released and Sonic ran up to her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Oh my... it really IS you."  
  
"Honey, I thought you were dead..." Swan Cried.  
  
"I thought you were too mom. Are you... alright? Did Robotnik hurt you?"  
  
"Not much. What happened to you though? You're so... different."  
  
"I know mom, I'm not the same Sonic I was months ago..."  
  
"Aw... What a pretty scene. I have the perfect end to the perfect reunion. Mecha bot 1, O.D of Vulcan to subject of E10."  
  
The SWATbot forcefully pushed Sonic back and restrained Swan. It pulled out a syringe of bubbling green liquid and Sonic charged at the robot, who in turn, snapped a hard kick to the hedgehog's stomach. The blue hedgehog clutched his stomach in complete agony. He was helpless and could do nothing as he watched his mother have an overdose of Vulcan injected into her. Swan's eyes widened and her body convulsed as the poison coursed through her body.   
  
Mecha SWAT released Swan from it's grasp and she staggered two steps before falling. She was on the ground, supported only by her arms. Sonic crawled to where his mom was and helped her up.  
  
"Hey..." Sonic said softly. "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm... sorry... Sonic... I... can't..." Swan replied before her eyes shut and her breathing ceased.  
  
"NO!!!" Sonic yelled in despair. The sound echoed off the metallic walls and flooded back into his ears. Sonic suddenly got the same sick feeling he had gotten in Metropolis. "Robotnik!!! I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do!"  
  
"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots. What're you going to do about? Use your little Karate moves?"  
  
Sonic growled. He was about to get up and maul the robot, but five laser bolts whizzed through the air above his head and ensured he would never have to face the Mecha bot again.   
  
The blue Hedgehog turned around "Knuckles," Sonic said softly. A sixth crimson bolt blasted the tv monitor and a camera in the back of the cell.   
  
"Go get Juke, Sonic," Knuckles said.   
  
"Could... you just leave me for a minute, Knuckles?" Sonic asked.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sonic eyed his mom's lifeless body. "I understand, I'll get her, we don't have time to waste, this place is going to blow in ten minutes." Knuckles replied as he picked up Mecha SWAT's keycard.   
  
Tails walked up to Sonic, who was softly crying. "I'm... sorry Sonic."  
  
"It ain't your fault, Tails, if it was, you'd be dead right now." Sonic softly replied. Tails sat down next to Sonic and was silent.  
  
Knuckles came back down the cellblock with the unconscious Juke slung over his shoulders. "Okay, c'mon, let's get out of here."  
  
"But what about my mom?" Sonic asked.  
  
"That's your mom? We have to leave her. Dedicate this mission to her."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
Suddenly, sirens wailed, "Bomb detected! Explosion Imminent! Evacuate premises immediately!"  
  
---  
  
5 minutes later-- Sand Hill  
  
---  
  
Sonic ran out of the complex and into the desert, Knuckles on his back. Tails followed behind by air, the still unconscious Juke dangling from his arms. Knuckles and Tails sat on Sand Hill, waiting for the blast. Sonic sat about 100 feet downhill, head in his hands, not making a sound. Before, Sonic had had hope that his parents could be alive because he hadn't seen them die. Now, that hope was gone. Robotnik had probably killed his dad too. He reall  
  
Knuckles walked down the hill towards Sonic. "People die Sonic."  
  
"Why her though? Why? A billion people in the world and it had to be her? Why not me, or you, or Robotnik?" Sonic asked softly.  
  
"You have to realize Sonic that we are at war, maybe not officially, but we are still at war. War is hell, Sonic, people WILL die. Think of everyone who died in the attacks on Metropolis and Casino Night. Aren't those attacks why you are training with me in the first place?"  
  
"Yeah... It's, just that--"  
  
"That you know that there's no turning back?"  
  
"Yeah... Just leave me alone, Knuckles."   
  
"Sure." Knuckles replied as he started up the hill  
  
Sonic watched as the base erupted in fire and was carried off in a red wind. With any luck, Robotnik would be gone with his base... Maybe not, an egg-shaped hover cruiser could be seen in the distance. Rats, he would get the murderer next time. 


	12. The Western Empire of Robotnik

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 12: The Western Empire of Robotnik  
  
---  
  
The Next Morning  
  
---  
  
Sonic rolled over in his bed of straw. Instead of his usual routine of getting up and stretching, and eating whatever Knuckles had left him, Sonic simply sat there, glaring silently at the wall.   
  
The events of the night before played through his mind like a movie-- how could he have just watched his mom die? He knew the answer-- He could hardly move around, much less stand, after the Mecha bot had given the hedgehog a piece of metal to his stomach. He knew he couldn't have-- even though he let himself deny that. The fact was, his mom was gone now, and there was nothing he could do about it. There was no "if" about it, either, he'd seen her stop breathing, and even if she would have survived then, she would have died in the blast.  
  
Sonic fell back into his bed and let his head hit the pile of straw, ignoring the tickling sensation caused by the straw. He laid there a while, not caring, only thinking. He didn't feel like getting up, or eating, at this point, he didn't even want to run. Maybe he was having a hellish nightmare, maybe none of this ever happened, maybe, a race was about to begin and he was late. But Sonic realized that he only wished he was having a nightmare, everything was real. He knew because his stomach was bruised and aching.   
  
He shut his eyes. Maybe if he fell asleep, he would forget about his problems... Boy, was he ever wrong. His sleep was filled with more memories, he saw himself with trophies, and various pictures that lined the wall of what used to be his house. And then, a wrecking ball swung through the opposite side of his bedroom, Revealing the entire machine, manned by Robotnik. The ball came further... and further... and finally it hit Sonic, the blue hedgehog flew backwards and hit the bedroom wall... The last thing he saw was Robotnik's evil laughter...  
  
Black faded to white as Sonic opened his eyes, mouth dry and breathing heavily. "So much for that idea," He thought. Knuckles knocked and entered Sonic's room.  
  
"Are you finally up now?" The echidna asked as he pulled up a chair and sat across from Sonic, who nodded a response. "You know, I am really impressed with your speed and agility, that dodge you pulled on Mecha was incredible, we just need to work on your combat skills more..."  
  
"Save it Knuckles, I ain't in the mood for an evaluation."   
  
"Fine, take the day off."  
  
"Thanks," Sonic replied as he fell back into his bed. Knuckles exited the room, without a goodbye. As hard as he tried, Sonic couldn't stop thinking about the events of the night before. He started to cry again, but stopped when his arms hit the wall...  
  
"Hey... What's on my arm?" Sonic asked as he peeled a small, round, metallic  
  
object. Upon closer examination, Sonic realized that it was a small microphone-- without a trigger. Sonic's jaw dropped as a sickening realization came over him. "Robotnik's been listening the whole time..."  
  
---  
  
Juke kept her eyes shut as she slowly awakened. She couldn't bear to see Robotnik's machinery any longer, he would surely kill her and Juke wondered why she wasn't dead left. Her right arm ached where she'd been shot. It was a pressure ache though, as if there was something tight around it. Awakening more, she realized that light flooded through her closed eyes and that she could actually move her legs. As she opened her eyes, she realized that she was lying on a soft bed in a primitive hut. She pickesd up a note on the table to her left.  
  
---  
  
Dear Juke,   
  
We went to Sandopolis as soon as our recon computers picked up your location. I hope you're feeling alright, I don't know the side effects of Vulcan, but tell me if you don't feel well. The Chaotix are sending you another gun and hoverboard as I speak, it should arrive in the next 10 hours.   
  
---  
  
The lime hedgehog sat up, greeted with a large amount of stiffness and soreness. She checked her uniform, among it was a small bloodstained area outside of the bandaged area. the rest of her uniform was intact, except for the occasional rip and bloodstain. She laid back in her bed, tired from her ordeal. Knuckles entered the room.   
  
"I see you're up," Knuckles said softly.  
  
"Yeah..." Juke replied sadly.  
  
"What's wrong."  
  
"Look what an animal I've become Knuckles. I wanted to kill Robotnik so bad I almost got myself killed. I never before wanted to kill anyone, amd definately not to where I'd rush out blindly and almost get myself killed."  
  
"You hate Robotnik and what he's done, of course you want to kill him, I do too after what happened to Sonic last night."  
  
Juke rapidly sat up. "What did he do to Sonic?"  
  
"Last Night, Robotnik showed Sonic that he had his mom. Sonic went up and hugged and then Robotnik gave his mom an overdose of Vulcan."  
  
"Vulcan?"  
  
"Vulcan, it's a poison, you've had some yourself."  
  
"Oh yeah!"  
  
"Yeah, but Sonic has done nothing but sleep and cry, he doesn't want to do anything."  
  
"Here, let me talk with him."  
  
---  
  
Sonic's hut  
  
---  
  
"Man, I can't believe that guy's been listening in on me the whole time, he's pry listening to me cry and having a good laugh." Sonic thought. "He's never gonna laugh again, cause I will never cry again." With that, Sonic stepped on the microphone and killed the transmission.  
  
---  
  
Robotnik's Hover Cruiser  
  
---  
  
Robotnik sat in his seat as Lieutenant Shady steered the craft back towards home base.  
  
"Check your course Lieutenant, there's been a change of plan."  
  
"Yes sir?"  
  
"Head towards Metropolis. If we can get bases up and running there, and then spread to Casino Night, nothing can stop us, NOTHING!!! This will mark the beginnig of the Western Empire of Robotnik and the erection of Robotropolis!"  
  
"Yes sir, heading to Metropolis." 


	13. Testing, 1, 2, 3, yeer out!

SuperSonic Speed-- Chapter 13: Testing, 1, 2, 3, yeer out!  
  
---  
  
Juke walked into Sonic's hut, and saw the blue hedgehog, head in his hands, silent. He wasn't even crying, just sitting there, leaving his world behind.  
  
"Hey," Juke said softly.  
  
"What do you want?" was Sonic's muffled reply.  
  
"I heard what happened..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"And, Knuckles said you were real shook up about it."  
  
"whatever, I just found out that Robotnik had been tracing my audio the whole time, he heard me cry, I'm probably the laughingstock of his base right now."  
  
"Well, I just wanted to ask you, how bad do you want to kill Robotnik?"  
  
"I want to make sure he never gets to kill anyone ever again."  
  
"Well then, you're gonna wanna get back to training as soon as you can, the sooner the better."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"'Sides, it'll help take your mind off last night."  
  
"Yeah... You're right. But what happens to you?"  
  
"I guess I stay. Knuckles said he wants you to learn how to use a gun and honestly, I don't want to go back to Casino Night, too many memories. 'Sides kid, look what happened the last time I decided to try and live there."  
  
Sonic chuckled, "Heh, I guess you're right, we had to go and fetch you."  
  
"You just go back to training, I have some things I need to pick up." With that, the Lieutenant walked out of the room. Sonic rose from his bed, stretched, and did the same.  
  
---  
  
10 hours later  
  
---  
  
Sonic crawled into his bed. While he had forgotton how hard Knuckles had worked him, he had forgotten how good it had felt to be up and moving. He had finally perfected his counters and was able to go toe-to-toe with the echidna guardian by not getting hit so easily. He laid flat on his bed and watched the stars outside his window. It felt so peaceful, so... good to be able to just sit there and not care about anything. He was glad Knuckles had been working him so hard, it had definately been paying off. He could see and feel the results, his bruises were less tonight. He laid there and let his mind drift off, he couldn't wait to show off his skills. Just two more years...  
  
---  
  
Knuckles' Hut  
  
---  
  
Juke stood in front of Knuckles, who was holding a dark gray pistol with a scope. Aside from the scope, it looked like your average laser pistol, without all the curves. It's edges straight and smooth.  
  
"Cool!" Juke exclaimed as she reached to grab the pistol, Knuckles held it back.  
  
"Uh-uh, this is high technology here, Juke."  
  
"What technology?"  
  
"New laser penetration technology, real dangerous stuff. Instead of just burning the surface, this keeps burning through, possibly exiting. However, you're much more likely to kill someone with this type of technology, so be careful when shooting at something."  
  
"Okay. Will do."  
  
"And also," Knuckles added, pulling a long, skinny, tube shaped object from a drawer behind him, "for recon missions, or for when you'd rather save your ears, a supressor."  
  
"Whoa! Cool! I always did hate the loudness of my other gun."  
  
"Yes, you just screw it onto the end. And it's small enough to stick in the pocket of your combat uniform."  
  
"I noticed."  
  
"But wait! According to the Chaotix, Robotnik has begun implementing this technology into his new robot squads and has stopped production of his weaker squads, such as the buzzbombers, and are using the last of them for special missions."  
  
"That's bad, I'd best pray I don't ever run into any of those bots."  
  
"Well, if you do, you can always out run them," Knuckles paused, pulling a bright white board out of a box behind him. "with this..."  
  
Juke's face lit up, "Wow! A new hoverboard!" she inspected the logo, "V 220-- For Military use only. Wow! This is so cool, a V220! I've always wanted one of these!"  
  
"Heh, now you can keep up with Sonic. Now, practice with these new toys of yours, I need to get some sleep."  
  
"Sure thing Knuckles! 'Night."  
  
----  
  
10 months later...  
  
---  
  
Sonic had learned timing with his counter, throws, a variety of other moves, and how to use his extreme speed to his advantage. Winter had come and Knuckles said that survival would begin soon. However, Knuckles said that one day there would be a test and that on that day to be ready for anything, and that Sonic was gonna need to rely on something other than speed...  
  
---  
  
Sonic opened his eyes and watched the bright sunlight reflect off of the hut's walls. He was wide awake, because Knuckles hadn't awakened him. The blue hedgehog smelled a trap. He stretched, ate the plate of food he had been left, and left his hut, taking in the morning's fresh air. He started to run around the set track Knuckles had showed him he could run around. It was outlined in an oval shape by various road signs routed around trees designed to create a barrier.  
  
He kept running around the track, unaware of the presence of a a creature dressed in forest green hanging in a tree. Sonic counted the laps... 1, 2, 3... Suddenly, as timed, the green figure swung down from a rope and kicked the running hedgehog to the ground before abondoninng the rope and pressing a button on a remote control. Ten foot crates emerged from the ground around them, surrounding the two figures in a much smaller oval. Ten more feet of barbed wire rose from inside the crates. There was no escape.  
  
From inside the mask, an evil voice barked, "You will challenge me here, and you will challenge me now. There is no escape, and if you will not fight me, I will kill you."  
  
"Who are you?" Sonic asked, puzzled at how someone could have gotten past Knuckles' security and create such a setup.  
  
"That is of no importance." The mysterious creature replied, and with that, charged at Sonic.   
  
Sonic side-stepped the charge and watched as the green creature readied himself for another go. As the creature charged, Sonic charged at it as well. Before the two creatures met in the middle, Sonic turned to his side and rammed the creature with his shoulder. The creature fell to the ground with a loud thump.  
  
Sonic went to punch the creature again, but it rolled away, and before Sonic could recover, kicked the hedgehog's back into the ground. Sonic tried to get up, but felt the creature put both of its arms around the blue hedgehog's midsection and slam him into the ground, Sonic let out a loud grunt of pain. the creature repeated this again, and again, and again. It let Sonic go and watch him fall limp to the ground, breathing heavily.  
  
Sonic rolled to the side right before the creature executed his finishing move. Sonic quickly ascended to his feet and jumped onto the creature's back, once, and then twice. Sonic took a second to breathe. the creature rose and threw a kick at the blue hedgehog, who, in turn, grabbed the creature's leg and threw it. Landing with a grunt of pain, the creature stayed still. Sonic ran to where the creature was, picked him up as far as he could and threw it into the crates, face first. It was finished, limp as a dead insect.  
  
Sonic picked up the creature and held it's head in his arms. He slowly ripped the costume at the neckline. Sonic finished ripping the neckline and slowly, hesistently, pulled off the mask. The blue hedgehog gasped in surprise at his find...   
  
Underneath the mask, was Knuckles the Echidna. The guardian was unconscious and his lip was bleeding, it was hard to tell where else the echidna was bleeding because of his crimson skin.  
  
At that moment, the barriers dropped and Lieutenant Juke emerged, balanced on her new, white V220 Hoverboard. "Congratulations kid."  
  
Sonic set Knuckles' limp form onto the grassy ground "Huh? What are you talking about?"  
  
"This was your combat test. The basic idea was to fight against a dumbed down version of Knuckles."  
  
"Whadda ya mean 'dumbed down'?"  
  
"He was taking it easy on you. As good as you were, if he had fought as hard as he normally could, you'd a been Knuckles' position right now."  
  
The hedgehog glared at the bleeding Echidna. "But why didn't he just show himself? Why the costume?"   
  
"You ain't yet learned about 'attacking with extreme prejudice' yet. That goes under military technique."  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
Juke sighed, "What that means is that if Knuckles hadn't been using the costume and the voice scrambler, you wouldn't of fought that hard because you'd of been afraid of hurting him."  
  
Sonic nodded, "Ah,"  
  
"Yeah. Now bring him here so we can take him back."  
  
Sonic picked up the guardian, and helped Juke get ahold of him.  
  
"Now kid, we're gonna go back. Keep up... If you can!" 


	14. Welcome to Robotropolis

SuperSonic Speed: Chapter 14- Welcome to Robotropolis  
  
Note: HUGE special thanks to Sunstorm for helping me with Robotnik's programming.  
  
----  
  
Robotropolis  
  
---  
  
Ten months ago, Robotnik had arrived at Metropolis zone. Various buildings had been partially restored, but the city lacked law and order. Takeover had been all a matter of sendng a mix of SWATbot and buzzbombers into the building. Without as much as a police force, and even if there had been, the people of Metropolis were as good as dead... Well not exactly, Robotnik had other plans. One by one, the city's already low population was morphed into mindless robots, unable to think, unable to fight. Death would have been better anyday. At least then nobody could use them for there own doings.  
  
However, after "cleaning up" the city (which included renaming it to Robotropolis), Robotnik had found creating his capitol tougher than expected. The city simply lacked resources. Robotnik found it interesting that the population had been living in darkness ever since. It made him feel... good. He wished he could have watched them suffer and cry and wish they would die. he wished he could watch the mothers telling the little kids that everything would be all right... and then a second later use his buzzbombers on there house. That would be his laugh of the week.   
  
Robotnik had had to set up everything by hand and with his robots. He had managed to transform buildings into other complexes for his own use. His current headquarters was in a bank... However, this was no ordinary bank, this banks had miles of underground space. Robotnik dispised bunkers, but it would protect him from whatever the so-called military thought they were going to find. The bank owner was dead, killed in the first attack, nobody even knew the bunker existed. But after his loss of the Mount Marble and Sandopolis bases, Robotnik wasn't taking any chances. The hedgehog was out there, and he wanted Robotnik's blood.  
  
The evil genius sat in his computer chair typing various commands into a console, "Lieutenant?" Robotnik barked.  
  
"Yes sir?" The new Lieutenant asked.  
  
"Give me a check here, electricity?"  
  
"Check, running throughout the city."  
  
"Water?"  
  
"Dirty and unsafe to drink, but check."  
  
"Mainframe and network operation?"  
  
"One Hundred percent, sir."  
  
"Ok. SWATbot Function?"  
  
"Check."  
  
"Backup squads?"  
  
"Check, buzzbombers running."  
  
"Factories?"  
  
"Resources are at Three Hundred Percent."  
  
"Population"  
  
"Just you, me, and our robot squads."  
  
"City Ownership."  
  
"One Hundred Percent yours, Robotropolis is completely under your rule."  
  
"Thank You, Lieutenant."  
  
---  
  
The Floating Island- 1530 hours  
  
---  
  
Sonic and Tails watched quietly as Knuckles opened his eyes, sat up and took in his surroundings. After seeing Sonic, the echidna nodded slowly. "Nice Work, Sonic."  
  
Sonic spoke fast, "Knuckles I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to! Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine. It's nothing, really. And Sonic?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Never be sorry."   
  
"But--"  
  
"I said 'never be sorry' and I meant it. Now both of you return to your quarters, this will be the last night you sleep there. You will be beginning your survival training tomorrow."  
  
---  
  
Robotropolis-- 1130 hours  
  
---  
  
Robotnik sat in his leather chair programming various commands for a newer, stronger neuro chip. This event actually occured at the same time as Knuckles' awakening, however due to timezone difference, it was much earlier in Robotropolis.   
  
Robotnik was dead tired. He had fell asleep at his desk at three am. but Lieutenant Shady woke him at seven-thirty. The evil genius had been hard at work trying to program the perfect neuro-chip. Several SWATbots had recently been caught trying to run away. This new chip would have to make its subject unable to fight. With this new chip, even the strongest would helplessly submit.  
  
Robotnik began the hardest part of the chip's programming: What to do for fighters. He had figured out (and smacked himself for not realizing the obvious sooner) that if the subjects could obviously think enough to fight the programming, that they could also feel fear, and fear he would give them. He began to type:  
  
"function TNeuralLink::OnGetThoughProc()  
  
{  
  
AccCtrlChip.RcvDataType(var tPTypeReturn);  
  
tPTypeReturn.SplitData(tCurrThought['data'],tCurrThougth['type']);  
  
if (CoreCPU.CriticalFunctions.ThoughtAnalyzer.ReadDataType(tCurrThought['type']) SYS_ERR_LEVEL) {  
  
{  
  
if ((ErrLevel = ThCoreCPU.CriticalFunctions.ThoughtAnalyzer.CheckErroneousThought(tCurrThought['data']) SYS_ERR_CRITICAL) {  
  
{  
  
CoreCPU.Output.Shocker(4s,ErrLevel/(6*VAL_VOLT_MULTIPLIER);  
  
CoreCPU.Output.SendMessage(_CRITICAL,'ERROR: Unauthorized Mental Activity');  
  
break;  
  
}  
  
}  
  
AccCtrlChip.ParseThoughtData(tCurrThough['data'];  
  
}"  
  
"Hmm... This should definately work." Robotnik thought as he finished up. "The perfect robot begins with the perfect neuro chip, which is exactly what Ive got in this thing." And Robotnik began to finish.  
  
---  
  
Next Day-- The Floating Island  
  
---  
  
Knuckles and Lieutenant Juke stood in front of Sonic and Tails, who were dressed in black combat uniforms.  
  
The Guardian Echidna began, "Today you will begin your first trial in your survival training. This is just like your first combat training trial. You will be seeing how far you go without me. This is your trial: There is a blue flag placed 360 miles from here. You have two days to reach it.  
  
"Pfft. I can do that in two hours!" Sonic bragged.  
  
"Me too! I can do that in one day flying!" Tails added.  
  
"But this is survival for a reason. Sonic, you are not to exceed a speed of over thirty miles per hour, Tails, you are not to be airbourne for more than a minute at a time. Airlifting over obstacles, hills is permitted."  
  
"Thirty miles per hour? My granny can run faster than that!" Sonic complained.  
  
"You heard me Sonic!!! I said thirty and I mean thirty!!!" Sonic winced. "You will be traced. I will be knowing your location AND your speed, so don't try anything funny. If you take your tracers off, you will be given extreme punishment.  
  
You will pick up your packs here. They contain forty-eight ounces of water each. Use it wisely! You get no more. If one of you is injured, you will still have to find a way out. Now, Me and Juke will be arriving via hoverboard about two hours from departure. Oh! Your packs also contain your tracer and a map. I honestly should not be telling you this, but the green square is your insertion, and the blue is the extraction, also known as the flag. Red spots mark areas of particular danger, avoid them at all costs. Any questions?"  
  
"What's the catch?" Sonic asked.  
  
"There is no catch, stay alive and get to the flag. Work and stick together."  
  
Knuckles replied, Sonic just knew the echidna was lying through his tense teeth. "Alright! Let's move out!" I'll show you to the insertion, then, you're on your own," And the group of four began to move out.   
  
---  
  
Insertion Point  
  
---  
  
"Well, this is it. It's time to show us what you're made of. Meet us at the flag, if you have not arrived in two days, well, just wait and see what happens, I can guarantee you won't be liking it." Knuckles commented.   
  
"Well kid, I have to say, you did good in the combat, but this is really gonna test ya." Juke began, "Good Luck, you're gonna need it."  
  
"Well Sonic, Tails, this is goodbye for now, use your head and you should come out alright. Good Luck." The guardian finished, and with that, waved the duo away.   
  
"Well Juke, ready for a hover board ride?"  
  
"You bet! I wanna see what this baby can do wide open!"  
  
Knuckles laughed, "I bet you would!"  
  
However, when this trial was through, there would be no laughter... 


	15. Yellow flag outside the Orange

SuperSonic Speed: Chapter 15- Yellow flag outside the Orange  
  
---  
  
Robotropolis  
  
---  
  
Robotnik sat in his revolving leather chair, enjoying the fact that he had many new projects started now that he could work on them simultaneously. He had dozens of new factories, and that opened the door for new technology in sooner time. One factory consisted of research and development of penetrating lasers, another was ironing out the bugs in project S.I.L.V.E.R, another plotting out the latest attack, one tracking the position of Robotnik's personal flying fortress, the list went on and on. And the best part was, they were all at his control.   
  
Lieutenant Shady walked in, "Sir, these are the latest reports of Factory X. The attack could take place tomorrow. This information comes from our most reliable sources."  
  
"Thank you Lieutenant." Said the evil doctor. He opened the file labeled "Top Secret" with interest. Inside the file were documents, plans for fires and sending capture bots to capture two fury creatures roaming unprotected.  
  
Robotnik resealed the file, stamped it with an "approved" stamp, and gave it to his Lieutenant. "While You're here, would you happen to know the location of my Flying Battery?"  
  
"Yes sir, Flying Battery is currently hovering over Hill Top at an Altitude of 20,000 feet, according to Echo Control Base."   
  
"I see," Robotnik said to himself thoughtfully, "I want that plan modified and the firebots dropped from Flying Battery as soon as possible..."  
  
Shady cut him off "But sir..."  
  
"NO 'BUTS' LIEUTENANT! I WANT THOSE FIREBOTS DROPPED RIGHT AWAY! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"   
  
Shady shook with fear, "Yes sir, right away sir," and he ran out of the room.  
  
----  
  
5 hours later  
  
---  
  
Sonic, with Tails on his back, ran through a straightaway that seemed to stratch on forever. Sonic had been running 5 hours straight now, but at only 30 miles per hour, Sonic felt like he had been running forever. He ran past lush palm trees and azure lakes, the sun shining off there surface, blinding the duo. The blue hedgehog was losing his endurance, he felt Tails become heavier and heavier, hurting his back. His mouth was dry and sore, as he hadn't even opened the water in his backpack yet.   
  
Sonic breathed in and out deeply, his abdomen aching with each movement. His legs ached with defiance as he pushed on further and further, he would reach that flag, he would reach that flag before Knuckles did, He would make sure of it.  
  
---  
  
With The Guardian and Lieutenant  
  
---  
  
Juke rode full-throttle on her V220, "Yahoo!" She yelled, performing various sudden turns (while almost getting herself killed in the process).  
  
"Juke! Slow Down! You're going to get yourself killed!" Knuckles yelled, franticaly trying to increase the speed of his obselete hoverboard.  
  
"No I'm not!" Just watch me!" The Lieutenant bragged, weaving back and forth, over and under various trees. "We're almost there anyways! Might as well have fun!"   
  
Knuckles muttered something about kids and and fought to catch up.  
  
---  
  
2 hours later- Race to the Flag  
  
---  
  
Sonic slowed to a walk, forced by the pain in his stomach and legs. "Tails, jump," He said weakly, forcing the words out of his mouth. As soon as he felt himself rid of the weight on his back, he gave in and sank to his knees, supported only by his aching arms.  
  
"Sonic! Are you alright?" Tails asked fearfully.  
  
The hedgehog shakingly held up his right hand in a "number one" position. "Yeah Tails, just as sec," Sonic took the time and just breathed, without a care in the world he just turned over and laid there, happy to be able to have a moment's rest.  
  
After about a half hour rest, Sonic sat up, his abdominal muscles screaming with pain. Gasping, he grabbed some water out of his pack, The young fox had already helped himself.  
  
"Ready to go Sonic?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be ready in two shakes."  
  
---  
  
The Flag- 1430 hours  
  
---  
  
Juke touched the flag pole as she reached the trial's landmark. Knuckles arrived a short while later, muttering curses about the lime hedgehog putting herself in unnecessary danger.  
  
"Aw, lighten up Knuckles, ya got a whole two days, nothing but you and nature."  
  
"Pfft, you think I can relax after what you were pulling back there?"  
  
Juke shook her head, "Some people."  
  
"Check this out, Sonic is far ahead, he's already into Angel Island!" knuckles observed excitedly.  
  
"Yeah! He may be here ahead of schedrule!"  
  
"Not a chance, if he's that far, that means he's been pushing his physical limits. He WILL be needing a long rest sooner or later."  
  
---  
  
Robotropolis- 1030 hours  
  
---  
  
Shady walked into the central control chamber. "SIR! firebots are active and awaiting deployment!"  
  
Robotnik shouted two, feelingless words into his intercom, "Echo, go."  
  
---  
  
With Sonic and Tails  
  
---  
  
Sonic was running, defying the pain, just making sure he made it to the flag before anyone else. However, day turned to night in an instant as a large ship obstructed the sky over Sonic's head, he skid to a halt.  
  
"What the--"  
  
He looked up, the most gigantic ship Sonic had ever seen was above his head, he barely had time to take in it's long, rectangular form and massive cannons, as Sonic watched large objects, some cylindrical and some spherical, drop from the ship.  
  
---  
  
With Knuckles  
  
---  
  
The Guardian stared at the sky, frantically talking into his headset.  
  
"Espio, what the heck is that? Well! What do you mean 'you don't know'! You're the recon expert! What are they doing?" Knuckles' eyes popped. "They're what? They're WHAT? They CAN'T be! No way! That's absolutely impossible! How can they track their location? No. No. Uh-uh, you're lying. You're not? Then send the crews out! I need to get to them right away!"  
  
---  
  
With the Duo  
  
---  
  
"Uh, Tails, what's that large thing a lil ways away?" Sonic asked nervously. The hedgehog instinctively knew what the object was, he was just having trouble comprehending the fact that one was this close to him.  
  
"HIT THE FLOOR!" Sonic yelled throwing himself to the ground, covering his head with his hands. A large, deafening "boom!" shook the ground. As Sonic stood up, he looked around him. The areas palm trees were on fire, the blaze growing dangerously and a thick, black smoke cloud forming overhead. Was this the survival aspect of the trial?  
  
His ears heard static through his earpiece, someone was trying to contact him. Knuckles voice came over, "YELLOW FLAG! I repeat! YELLOW FLAG!"  
  
"Whats a yellow flag?" Sonic asked Tails, who simply shrugged his shoulders, he was too scared to care.  
  
"Knuckles! What's a 'yellow flag'?"  
  
More static came through as Knuckles yelled "ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! This is not part of the trial! Get as far away from that thing as you can, as fast as you can!"  
  
The hedgehog turned as light a shade of blue as he could possible could. "Tails! On my back!" He yelled, and ran, ignoring the pain and racing. Not for a trophy, however, but for his life. 


	16. Hydro and Seek

SuperSonic Speed 16: Hydro and Seek  
  
---  
  
Back with Knuckles  
  
---  
  
The Guardian Echidna leaned forward on his hoverboard. "This ain't good. So far, half of the Chaotix are manning their anti-air guns, which aren't doing a dang thing against that monster. The other half is headed to Hydrocity water station, which is our main source of water. They're going to try and cut off the blaze. But until then, anything could happen."  
  
"Where's them kids?" Juke asked.  
  
"Uh... Trying to get as far away as they can from that thing I guess."  
  
"you guess?"  
  
"What? Do you have a better idea?"  
  
---  
  
Robotropolis  
  
---  
  
Robotnik sat in front of a large screen. On the screen was direct video feed from Flying Battery. It showed a small section of the island burning, "Excellent, Lieutenant, deploy the prototype into that water station I'm seeing here. Make it kill anything that moves inside, we may just anger the Guardian."  
  
He leaned back in his chair. The fires were only an added bonus to the main event.  
  
---  
  
Angel Island  
  
---  
  
Sonic ran, he didn't bother looking back. He knew what was behind him, an ever-growing line of orange. He didn't want to see it, he was sick of destruction. It reminded him of Metropolis, he didn't want to be reminded of Metropolis, the thought of that day made him sick.  
  
Knuckles' voice came through on his headset, "Sonic, keep going the way you are, you are headed east, about one hundred miles away is Hydrocity Water Station, get to there and you should be okay."  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, 'should' be okay?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Sonic, nothing is ever guaranteed, you may tire in the meantime, then the blaze catches up, and then..."  
  
"NO!!!" Sonic yelled, "That ain't gonna happen!"   
  
"It could, Sonic, it very well could."  
  
"But it's not!!! I'll show you when I arrive at Hydrocity, it won't happen!"  
  
Knuckles cut the transmission and smirked, that had been too easy.   
  
---  
  
About Fifty Miles away from Sonic  
  
---  
  
Lieutenant Shady stood in an elevator, a silver robot to his right. This elevator would lower the Lieutenant and the robot safely to the ground. The robot to his side stood about 4 feet tall, its down-powered eyes glowing a dull orange, its finger spikes retracted. This robot was the prototype of Project S.I.L.V.E.R, ordered to kill ANYTHING that moved. So the robot would have to be activated by remote control to prevent having the Lieutenant die a very horrible, bloody death.  
  
The two sevents of Robotnik reached the floor and Shady pushed the prototype out. Quickly, he got up into the elevator, pushed the "up" button, and activated the bot. The dull orange eyes, turned a fiery bright orange and the Lieutenant punched in the robots destination coordinates as quickly as he could.  
  
The prototype took off and was ready to kill, and kill, and kill.  
  
---  
  
Twenty Five Minutes Later  
  
---  
  
Sonic ran, the green trees in front of him disappearing behind him in a blur. He knew, that in a matter of minutes, the green he just passed would turn an evil orange. He could see the large building in the distance. "There it is Tails, Hydrocity, pretty big eh?"  
  
"Wow Sonic! That thing is as big as a castle!"   
  
"Er... Not quite, but it sure is huge!"  
  
The blue hedgehog ran on, going as fast as he possibly could. The faster he made it to hydrocity, the better. With each passing second the building got bigger and bigger, until Sonic couldn't see the top and the words "HydroCity Water Plant" hung over the front door and filled his view.  
  
Sonic raced to the front door and pulled it open, only to find himself lost in a maze of tubes, tanks and catwalks. He yelled "HEY!!!" Only to hear his voice bounce and echo off the walls, the hedgehog was truly alone, or so he thought...  
  
"Tails, off my back." Sonic ordered, and felt instantly relieved when the fox jumped off.  
  
"Sonic! Where's the chaotix?"  
  
"Dunno pal, they should be around here somewhere. Knuckles should tell us in a few minutes, in the meantime, lets just take a look around."  
  
---  
  
Floating Island  
  
---  
  
"DANG IT!" Knuckles yelled as he raced toward Hydrocity on his hoverboard, "I should have told him not to go in yet!"   
  
Juke was riding alongside him, "Relax, they'll be alright."  
  
"Easy for you to say, all I know is that we need to get there, the sooner, the better."  
  
---  
  
Fifteen Minutes Later  
  
---  
  
Sonic and Tails had been walking through aisles and aisles of the tubing and had fund nothing.  
  
"Man, maybe we got the wrong HydroCity," Sonic said, frustrated.  
  
"More than one Hydrocity?"  
  
"Naw, that can't be it. And why ain't Knuckles contacted us yet?"  
  
"Maybe the generators are causing comlink interference?"  
  
"That must be it, you're a genious Tails! We need to get outside as soon as we can."  
  
Sonic began to walk, Tails following behind. He went snaking around the aisles, unable to find an exit.  
  
"What the heck are we gonna do?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I was about to ask you," Tails replied.  
  
Sonic was exhausted, he had been running five hours straight in the trial, and then from the fire, and now through this water plant. His feet were blistered and aching and the muscles in his legs felt like leathery shoestring.  
  
He put his arm against a tank and leaned against it. Suddenly, with a low-pitched hum, a laser bolt hit the tank he was leaning on about two inches away, scorching the tank's surface.  
  
"What the?" Sonic turned around, at the far end of the hall was a metal robot.  
  
---  
  
Flying Battery  
  
---  
  
Shady laughed evilly, from the Central Control room he could override the robots preset orders and command the prototype to do anything he wanted. He could make it go after a certain target, choose the weapon of choice, or even talk and make the voice sound robotic. Shady was in control now, and the only one that could stop him was the master himself, Robotnik.  
  
---  
  
Hydrocity  
  
---  
  
Sonic couldn't run fast now, but he could run. "TAILS! You go left, I'll go right! Just try and find a way out!" The hedgehog started down his path, he heard a laser bolt shoot towards where Tails was heading and heard the fox shriek. Sonic turned up the speed to as far as his limited stregth would allow him and hoped his friend was alright. He would have to run around the tanks and back to Tails, it was too dangerous running towards the robot.   
  
The blue hedgehog ran around the tank and saw Tails, he was alright, just shaken and running towards him. Suddenly, the robot decided to kick into high gear. Sonic was fast, the robot was faster. Sonic felt cold, thick, metal hands, one wrapped itself around his neck, the other, around his waist, short claws digging it, making Sonic's eyes bulge. He tried to gasp out, but he couldn't, the robot's hands were too thick.  
  
Sonic looked on in horror as the robot extracted his hand from inside of Sonic's side. The blue hedgehog shut his eyes, he didn't want to see the creatures clawed hands, covered in his blood, he didn't want to feel anything either. He knew, that anytime, teh robot would pull out it's claws on the hands around his neck and it would all be over, he would die a bloody, painful death.  
  
Sonic felt the barrel of a pistol press against the side of his head, perhaps his death wouldn't be so bad. 


	17. Silver and Lime

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 17: Silver and Lime  
  
---  
  
Hydrocity Water Plant  
  
---  
  
A smile crossed Sonic's face. He would actually get a painless death, one second of extreme pain at the most. Tails began to walk forward.  
  
"HALT!!! One step, and I'll pull the trigger!" Shady warned; the fox stopped right in his tracks. "Good. Very good. You're a smart fox."   
  
Tails grit his teeth, "You're not gonna get away with this!"  
  
"I think I already have, stupid fox. Sonic, don't think you're getting off easy. Pfft. I don't want to shoot you, I want to torture you... like THIS!!!" and with that, Shady commanded to have Mecha begin to punch Sonic in his stomach. It did it once, twice, three times, it kept going. Shady's psychotic laughter poured into Sonic's ears, as if the physical torture wasn't enough. Sonic was held motionless by the robot's heavy hands. Tails ran forward in an attempt to knock the prototype off balance.  
  
The prototype swung a kick out and kicked Tails back. "Uh-uh, You're not gonna save Sonic!!!" It kept hitting and hitting Sonic, the robot's "skin" feeling like a cold, metal bar. Sonic felt weak, his stomach felt sick, and he hopelessly tried to struggle against the prototype's iron grip.  
  
The doors of HydroCity Water Plant swung open and shots rang out into the aisles.  
  
A deep, male voice shouted "Go! Go! GO!!!" and a female voice shouted, "GET DOWN! GET DOWN!"  
  
Two figures on hoverboards emerged into Sonic's view. "Juke and Knuckles? What the heck are they doing here?" he thought. The prototype threw Sonic and pulled it's pistol back out.   
  
Juke jumped off her hoverboard, and threw herself into a forward somersault as she landed, effectively rolling behind a tank and safe from the prototype's shots. Knuckles jumped onto the hoverboard that Juke had jumped off of and he took off towards Sonic. The robot began in putsuit of Juke.  
  
"Sonic are you okay?" Knuckles asked quietly.   
  
"Yea... Yea... I'll be fine," Sonicd lied; it showed when he tried to sit up and gasped with pain.  
  
"Just get on the hoverboard, you too Tails." The fox obeyed and Knuckles took off on the V220, speeding away toward the front door.  
  
---  
  
Aisles of Hydrocity  
  
---  
  
The lights went out, all but a few dim lights lit the aisles of Hydrocity. Juke was unprepared and underequipped. Normally, she would have had her nightvision goggles, a fragmentation grenade, and a concussion grenade, and that was the least she would take. She was only supposed to wait for Sonic's arrival in the flag trial, but it had somehow turned into a REAL survival trial, and now all she had was her pistol and her senses.   
  
Juke pulled out her suppressor and carefully screwed it on. If this robot's hearing was like the rest, she could miss a few shots without getting the robot's attention.  
  
She had her back against a tube. That robot, was somewhere in back of her. She listened to the thuds it's metallic feet made as it walked, scanning the aisles as a predator hunting for his prey. Her mind was racing, her hands sweating. Should she jump out and surprise him? Or should she quietly wait for him where she was? Her only advantage there was that the generators stopped the robot from scanning the area.  
  
---  
  
Outside of Hydrocity  
  
---  
  
"Chaotix, where are you?" Knuckles yelled into his headset.   
  
Sonic could vaguely hear a voice on the other line say "Top Floor offices."  
  
"Okay, we have a situation with a deadly robot on the first floor, whatever you do, GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE!"   
  
Knuckles raced away from HydroCity on his hoverboard.  
  
"Where are we going Knuckles?" Tails asked.  
  
"Its a secret, the biggest secret on the island," He replied, racing away.  
  
---  
  
Aisles of HydroCity  
  
---  
  
Juke had made her decision. She jumped out, the robot had it's back to her and was moving slowly down the hallway, it wouldn't miss a chance at cathching it's prey. It was almost to the end.  
  
She pulled up the pistol's ever useful scope. Clean shot, right to the head. Juke pulled the trigger, and watched the laser hit a second later. She looked through her scope. His head now featured a large hole and the robot was rapidly turning to face her. It wasn't mad, it was FURIOUS. Rapid shots begin to fire. Juke dove behind a tank for cover. Breathing heavily, her heart racing she tried thinking of what to do, shouldn't the robot have been dead?  
  
Suddenly, she heard a motor whir.  
  
"Forget this!!!" Juke thought, and bolted for the entrance. It was hard to see as there was no lighting at all in this area, she bumped into several tanks along the way.   
  
The whirring behind her crescendoed.   
  
"Uh-Oh," Juke thought, "I've got company."  
  
She turned around and shot at the robot, she didn't know whether or not it hit, it would at least be an attempt to slow the robot. Juke ran as fast as she could, hands out in front of her and occasionly shooting, the laser would temporarely light her path. She turned and shot at him again, while it was aways away from her, it was beginning to turn on the speed.   
  
Aha! She saw it! Knuckles' hoverboard and the front door by it! The hoverboard glowed a dim red, she hadn't seen it because a tank had obstructed her view. She jumped on and rode out, turning around to shoot at the robotic hedgehog, who was turning up the speed and catching up with Juke.  
  
"Knuckles! Where are you! We have a robot on the loose outside of Hydrocity!!!" Juke yelled into her headset.  
  
"You're a little late Juke, the robots are EVERYWHERE! We have buzzbombers and SWATbots PLUS that fire is rapidly spreading!" The guardian replied.  
  
"What are we gonna do?"  
  
"Head straight east until you reach a lone palm tree, get off your hoverboard, find the large red rock and stomp on it. I'll see you there, until then, there's nothing I can do for you."  
  
Juke fired about ten rapid shots at the robot. "Great! And until then, I get to be this robot's lunch!"  
  
---  
  
Back with Knuckles  
  
---  
  
Knuckles stomped on the rock and watched as a passage way opened up. "Be careful going down." he said, and with that, slid down, holding Sonic in one hand. Tails followed after him.  
  
The three landed, Tails a little rougher than Knuckles. Ther landing spot was impressive. A huge marble chamber, two doors, one on either side, they were both sealed, no intruders would ever get in.  
  
Knuckles laid Sonic on the ground. "Feeling okay?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Not really," came Sonic's weak reply.  
  
Knuckles went to a wall, typed in a passcode and watched as some gauze popped out. He walked over to Sonic, "Everything is either passcoded or sealed to prevent the enemy from using it." The guardian began to wrap Sonic's bruised stomach and bloody side. "Wow, what the heck did that robot do to you?"  
  
"I'd like to try and forget." Came Sonic's answer.  
  
"I see. Okay, there we go, try and sit up."   
  
Sonic obeyed, gasping with every inch he moved. "Oh man, that guy did me but good."  
  
"It'll hurt for a while, obviously, just lay there until we're ready to go."  
  
Sonic shut his eyes and obeyed.  
  
"Is Sonic okay?" Tails asked.  
  
"He will be fine for the moment."  
  
Juke slid down onto the marble floor. "Geez! You never told me to watch my step!"   
  
"That's not important, grab your V220 and put Sonic on it, we need to be on our way.  
  
"Wha? Sonic asked.  
  
"Just lay there Sonic. Let's go." Knuckles replied as he walked to the sealed door on the right and typed in the password, the door opened and the door they had entered through closed. "Welcome to Hidden Palace."  
  
Sonic sat up and looked around him. "Wow..." was all he could mutter.  
  
Seven tiny emeralds and Seven larger emeralds were stationed around a much larger, green emerald.  
  
"This is the heart of the island what makes it run. The smallest emeralds are the Chaos Emeralds, the slightly larger ones are Super Emeralds, and the big one is the Master Emerald, which is so powerful that it can cancel the effects of the chaos and supers. Without the Master Emerald in place, this island would sink.  
  
If Robotnik ever got his hands on any of these, ESPECIALLY an entire sey of either Chaos or Supers, or worse, both, he could use it to power ANYTHING. If he wanted to destroy the planet, he could do it, easily." Knuckles explained.  
  
"But how would we stop him from getting it then?" Juke asked.  
  
"Like this," Knuckles replied, entering a passcode that revealed a red switch. He punched his fist against the button and watched one by one, in a spiral motion, as holes opened below the emeralds and they fell through.  
  
"The eject button will make Robotnik have to look harder. He could still get  
  
the Master, but he'd have to find this place here first. Now, follow me."  
  
Juke and Tails followed as Knuckles opened up the door to a long spiral staircase that went down several floors.  
  
The three (plus Sonic on the hoverboard) began to descend. It seemed to take ages for them to reach the bottom. When they did, all that was there was a door.  
  
"Congratulations on your 2,000 foot descent, but this is it, Robotnik has won this time, he now has the island in his control. Tails, grab everyone's hands and be ready to fly. Tails obeyed and with Knuckles' free hand, typed in 0134 on the keypad, the door flew open, revealing Hilltop Zone below.   
  
"JUMP TAILS! GO GO GO!" Knuckles yelled. Tails jumped, and Knuckles looked at the inside of his Hidden Palace, he had failed as guardian. 


	18. The Steep Freeze

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 18: The steep freeze  
  
---  
  
Knuckles dangled from the V220, holding on for dear life as he started to fall towards Hill Top Zone's majestic green landscape. Knuckles felt terrible, he was giving up his island to his enemy. This was extremely unlike him, how could he do such a thing? He couldn't, he told himself, that would be an admission of defeat.  
  
"Tails!" Knuckles yelled over the roaring of the wind, "PULL UP! Get to the islands surface!"  
  
Tails began his ascent, "Why?"  
  
"We're gonna take this island back or die trying!!!"  
  
"Yes sir!"   
  
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Flying Battery  
  
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The prototype layed sprawled on the main deck, convulsing every few seconds. Sparks emitted from it's body and a wail of pain came from within.  
  
"Oh, dang," Shady thought nervously, "Robotnik's going to have my hide for this one!" While yes, the prototype was functional, it WAS a prototype, and had dozens of bugs, flaws and defects, perfect for the enemy to exploit. Many times, in the middle of an assault, the silver robot would malfunction and collapse right then and there. Naturally, this had happened in the middle of a chase, which had allowed the traitor to escape.  
  
Shady thought it was a memory overload, Robotnik thought Shady was stupid and that it was his fault. The Lieutenant couldn't figure out which was worse, the truth or the assumed. What mattered now though, was fixing the robot so he could be redeployed somewhere else with the main objective of causing a chaotic tragedy.  
  
A all-too familiar sounding psychotic voice barked through Shady's headset, anyone outside within a ten foot radius of the headphones would be able to pick up on the conversation. "DANGIT LIEUTENANT! Have you not gotten that robot fixed up yet or what?"  
  
Shady gulped, letting out a slow, quivering, "No, sir."  
  
"WHAT? You haven't even started on it have you!"  
  
Shady gulped again.  
  
"ANSWER ME LIEUTENANT!!!"  
  
It came out, "No."  
  
"WHAT WAS THAT LIEUTENANT?"  
  
He quickly straightened up his head and quickly said, "I meant 'no, sir' my appologies, commander."  
  
Robotnik relaxed in his seat, shady could hear Robotnik's rear end squeal against his seat. "Get your rear in gear Lieutenant, before I have my SWATbots come and help you get it in gear!"  
  
"Yes, sir. Right away, sir." Shady quickly hussled over to his workstation, pulled out his screwdriver and immediately got to work on the protoype.  
  
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With our team  
  
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Juke slowly, shakingly, pulled herself onto the island. Her upper body strength had never been any good, and it showed now. It reminded her why she'd chosen to use her gun rather than her fists. She laid on the ground panting.  
  
"Are you alright Juke?" Knuckles asked, concern in his eyes.  
  
"Yea... I'm fine... hehe, ain't used my... arms in sometime."  
  
Sonic groaned as he laid on the V220, which was now functioning as a strecher. "Oh wow," Sonic said quietly as he stumbled to his feet, clutching his side in pain.  
  
"Sonic! How are you feeling?" Knuckles asked, now turning his attention to the blue hedgehog.  
  
"Oh, wow. I can walk, I think I might be able to run a l'il bit, my side sure hurts like heck though, 'killin me." He walked in a small circle trying to loosen up.  
  
"Okay guys, here's the plan. I realized that if I would have just abandoned the island now, we would have an absolute zero chance of retaking the island because that flying ship will be there the first few days, and after then, it will be too infested with robots to even attempt to take back," Knuckles breathed as he got ready to unleash his assault plan, "Okay, first off, you see those mountains not too far away in the distance? Those are the Ice Cap mountains. They're not too difficult to climb, it's just that they're ridiculously cold. From the top, we should be able to grab a hold of that airship.  
  
Now, Sonic, its time for a little military technique. Once inside, we're going to go in standard formation, or for you two, Sonic and Tails, we're going in in a two-by-two square. Me and Juke will be in front and you two will be in back.   
  
Now, before I continue, let me just say that no matter HOW INENSE things get, you must always stick to the plan, and believe me, you'll live longer that way. Unless I say so, you are to attack ANYTHING that moves." Knuckles then began to whisper the rest of the plan in each of his team's ears, each one's eyes bulging and arguing in disbelief of what they had just heard. "Okay, it's time for us to mooooove out."  
  
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Flying Battery  
  
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The prototype stood standing, ready to be used again. "Dang, I am SO good," He tried running the thought program again, it was up and running, he set it on auto, and programmed the robot to kill anything that wasn't recognized as being allied with Robotnik. Some guard duty should help the bot get used to his job.  
  
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One hour later at the foot of the Ice Cap mountains  
  
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Sonic shivered, he was painfully cold. The freezing temperature chilled his bones and made his stomach and side ache much worse than they already did, it made him wish he was back in his boring old house in boring old Grotto Village. He never imagined he could feel this cold, it was like being stuck in a freezer set on "extra high". Tails was shivering too, making the blue (make that frozen blue) hedgehog feel slightly better in the fact that he didn't have to endure the cold alone. Knuckles wasn't shivering at all, Sonic wasn't surprised, nothing seemed to affect the echidna.   
  
"Yuh, yuh re, ready tuh, climb, that thing, Knu, knuckles?" Sonic asked, his teeth chattering.  
  
The echidna nodded his head thoughtlessly, beginning the first part of the journey. Sonic's mind was racing, he wouldn't tell Knuckles, but he was scared, terribly scared, he had a feeling that the cold would kill him. He figured that Tails was scared too, but little did the hedgehog know that The guardian echidna was more scared then Sonic and Tails combined, and for good reason too... 


	19. To the Top

SuperSonic Speed: Chapter 19- To the top  
  
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Flying Battery  
  
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Lieutenant Shady sat back in his chair reading the latest reports straight from Robotropolis. Appartantly, very soon, the city would have full resources at 100%  
  
It was good news, but not very interesting news at that. He closed the file and let himself relax. The prototype was on board guarding corridors and scanning sectors, it was essentially the first time his life had been pretty much guaranteed.   
  
Occasional Reports of "Sector Clear" and "No Unusual Activities Oberved" Flashed across the screen. Shady shut his eyes, at this rate, he could afford a nap, and he would tell Robotnik that too. Although inside, he'd never really have the backbone to tell Robotnik anything when the monster came out screaming.  
  
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Ice Cap Mountains  
  
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Knuckles carefully scaled the mountain, his eyes constantly scanning all directions. He had heard from the Chaotix tales of giant monsters in the other mountains, the one farthest away anyways. He doubted this was true, and even if it was, it would be impossible to cross over to this mountain.  
  
Lieutenant Juke and Knuckles led the front row, followed by Sonic and Tails in the back. Two by Two, the four entered a cave.  
  
"Okay," Knuckles started, "What's interesting about these mountains, is that they sharply slope for a bit, then level out and you'll go through a series of caves. You probably noticed it already, but I just wanted to point i out and let you know you weren't crazy.  
  
They were about halfway up the mountain already, and the cold seemed to increase. Sonic had doubted it could get any worse, but here he was, curled up as he walked, shaking and shivering.  
  
The four ended another slope and reached a cave. These caves were slightly tubular and glowed a frozen blue. Small rocks lay roughly dotted across the floor, but there were some bigger ones there two. They were about to carry on when Juke held Knuckles back and yelled "Whoa!" She quickly pulled out her pistol and carefully shot at the ceiling, a HUGE icicle fell to the cave floor, shattering into a million pieces. "That one was loose, another step, and it woulda landed on your head."  
  
Knuckles muttered something about having always hated the place, "So. How did you know about those?"  
  
"What? You think Robotnik would be dumb enough to send his, well, what WAS his top Lieutenent, out into the field without proper training? That jerk's alotta things, but dumb ain't one of 'em."  
  
"Yea, and that's what makes everything harder." Knuckles coldly replied.  
  
They continued on climbing the next slope, they were almost at the top...  
  
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Robotropolis  
  
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"Report in Lieutenant!" Robotnik announced through his headset. All Robotnik recieved was a good moment of silence. "Lieutenant? Are you there? Answer me!" Robtnik was MAD now, "LIEUTENANT! ANSWER ME NOW!!!"   
  
Shady had figured the wost thing to wake up to in the world was a stereo on full blast, he now had a new chart topper. "Yesss sir?" He asked, still half-asleep.  
  
"Have you been sleeping on the job Lieutenant?"  
  
"Yes sir. I apologize for my actions, sir."  
  
"Lieutenant, I had better not catch you sleeping again."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Over and out."  
  
---  
  
Ice Cap  
  
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This was it, they were just about at the top. Knuckles looked down, "Long way down eh?" The sight made Sonic sick, so he nodded. Suddenly, a loud, enormous vibration was starting. "Flying Battery is nearing us, it'll be here in about 15 minutes." However, the vibration, grew louder, blocking out the noise.  
  
Pieces of snow and ice began to fall. "What the?" Sonic asked, surprised, he didn't have much more time to react though, because Knuckles yelled "Avalanche!!!" And everyone was swept off their feet.  
  
Sonic was helpless, he could do nothing except watch in horror as he and his friends were pulled down the mountain. He could feel he was almost at the bottom, the snow was catching up, the white blanket was almost upon him, and then, everything went dark.  
  
Knuckles' head popped out of the snow first. Then Juke's and then Tails.  
  
"Hey!" Tails yelled, "Where's Sonic?" The trio looked around, but Sonic was nowhere in sight. "Sonic! Where are you!" The calling helped noone.  
  
"Okay, chances are, he's somewhere under there. We've got about five minutes until he's dead, so we need to work fast." The three started digging away at the snow, it was a race against time.  
  
Snow was being thrown everywhere, adn Tails spotted a limp arm in the pile where they had tossed everything.  
  
Knuckles pulled the hedgehog out and looked at him. He was freezing cold and the back of his head was stained purple with blood. Knuckles couldn't figure out what had happened. Then, he remembered the big rocks he had seen earlier and everything suddenly seemed clearer.  
  
---  
  
Sonic felt big, muscular arms drag him from the snowy depths of hell and put him on a hard, cold, bed. He struggled to breathe deeply. He was cold, so cold, and the back of his head ached terribly too. The hedgehog wondered what would have caused such pain. He tried curling up, but the hands wouldn't allow him. Sonic painfully opened his eyes. Slowly coming into focus was Knuckles, Tails, and Juke. He was laying on Knuckles Hoverboard, the Echidna was holding him in place.  
  
"You almost died!" Tails yelled.  
  
"Huh? What? No way!" Sonic replied.  
  
"Tails was right, you almost DID die." Knuckles commented dully. "So, once we get in a semi-warm place will you be able to walk?"  
  
Sonic nodded, although he really just wanted to sleep. He kept his eyes open. Flying Battery hovered close to the mountains, orbiting the island, it was time to take back the floating island. THIS was it, do or die, win or lose, and he was ready... or at least he thought he was. 


	20. The Blue and the Grey

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 20: The Blue and the Grey  
  
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Robotropolis  
  
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Robotnik sat back in his chair monitoring the city. This was particularly hard work as he had to watch around 100 different monitors at the same time. He made a mental note to construct a law enforcement team, as this way, he could focus on other projects.  
  
The evil doctor heard the clunking of robotic footsteps behind him. A SWATbot held a package in his hand for Robotnik to pick up. Using his gigantic feet to move his chair towards the robot, he picked the package out of the robot's hands and waved it away.  
  
Robotnik scanned the reports without much interest. Nothing much was happening in Robotropolis today. There had been a short power outage at one of the smaller factories on the outside of town, but the problem had been quickly resolved. He leaned back in his chair and continued reading the reports with little interest... until he reached the final paper. On it, in large bold letters, it read: CRITICAL ERROR: Unauthorized Mental Activity detected in Mecha Bot 00 at 1320, voltage applied to subject.  
  
Robotnik was a mixture of emotions, he was angry that the robot had been thinking illegal thoughts, but at the same time, marveled at the fact that his neuro chip had worked flawlessly. So, that's why the robot had been sparking and disabled this morning! This chip would serve him well, Robotnik knew it.  
  
He turned back to his monitors, no doubt would he doze off, while Robotropolis was a busy city, it was a boring city at that. All that happened was the production of SWATbots and the operation of computer mainframes. Robotnik grew tired, there was no sunlight in his subterranean bunker to keep him awake. He slowly typed commands into his computer, pausing every few seconds to keep his eyes from instinctively closing. His head felt much bigger than his body (which, in itself was a feat). He let himself fall into infinity.  
  
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Flying Battery- 10 minutes later  
  
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The jump had been successful, as the foursome was now inside the Flying Battery. The entire room was a dull, depressing metallic grey. It was rather large, about 15 feet tall and 200 feet wide with boxes large and small scattered about. The room obviously served as a cargo storage, a large storage at that. Knuckles wondered what was in the boxes.   
  
"Awfully strange to have as much cargo as this place has." Knuckles thought aloud.  
  
"This ain't the only cargo hold on this baby either, I guarantee it. Robotnik wouldn't be so stupid as to place his cargo so tightly together where a single C4 could wipe 'er out," Juke commented dully.  
  
"So what's in there?" Tails asked.  
  
Sonic added, "Probably enough food supply for that guy for a single day," He gave a light chuckle.  
  
"Pfft, I wish. Naw, what we're dealing with here is much, much bigger. We're talking not only spare parts and microchips for robots, we're talking weapons, tons and tons of 'em." Juke corrected.  
  
"That's bad, real bad. Well, we SHOULD take some of them I suppose."  
  
"No Sonic, absolutely not. Not only are we not trained in the use of these weapons, what better way to give ourselves up, say a SWATbot comes down here and finds his package has been tempered with, dead."  
  
"But what was that gun you had? Wasn't it Robotnik's?" Tails asked.  
  
"Heck yeah, kid," Juke started, "But what I mean by weapons, I don't mean tiny little pistols like that. I'm talking the much bigger weapons. I'm talking about your sub-machine guns, machine guns, and worst case scenario is bombs, really big bombs."  
  
"And he could..." Knuckles started.  
  
"He TOTALLY could, heck, he could wipe Metropolis so clean, it'd look like one of the moon's craters. And that's where your plan comes into play, Knuckles. It's crazy, it's dangerous, and it's definately gonna involve pain in one form or another, but it'll save any city he thinks he's gonna use it on."  
  
Sonic looked at his bloodstained gloves and his bandaged side. "Pfft," He thought, "Like I'm not in enough pain already." The blue hedgehog looked around and saw a gigantic map on the wall. "Look guys!" He was staring at the largest map he had ever seen. They were on the very east end of the vessel, the only thing behind them were the engines. In the center of the map was a large, spherical room, much larger than the room they were in now, the name of it marked out, so that no one would see it. Directly above it was the control room.  
  
"Okay guys, that's our target," Knuckles pointed to the map's control room.   
  
"Now, here's the thing," The Lieutenant began, "We will be marching across this hallway 2b, be VERY careful to pick up your feet 1-2 1-2, any non-metallic footsteps WILL be reported to the top dog around here, so be wary of that. Now let's move out!"  
  
But they were too late.  
  
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Flying Battery Control Room  
  
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"How entertaining," The Lieutenant thought aloud, "Our little scumbag friends thought they could get on board through the cargo hold."  
  
Through the auto-pilot controls, Shady began to talk in a voice that would enter the bots mind as a command. "Mecha Bot 01, you are to immediately report to room 3D." The Lieutenant issued several other top-priority commands to the bot before turning off the comm system.   
  
So, his friends wanted to play war, he'd play war... and make sure he won too. That traiterous scum and her friends wouldn't win on HIS ship in HIS room on HIS time, no way in heck.  
  
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Back with Sonic  
  
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They walked down a long hallway that served as the transitional hall between the cargo hold and the spherical room. Beyond the spherical room was the control room, and most likely the ship's controls. 1-2, 1-2 their feet softly tapped against the floor. Two by two they swept the room and neared the exit door.   
  
"Well guys," Knuckles breathed deeply, "This is it." They stood outside the door, which was basically made up of black bars.  
  
Sonic eyed the entrance suspiciously, "Wait Knuckles..."   
  
"What?" The Lieutenant asked, drawing her pistol.  
  
"Something's really wrong with this... I don't feel right... I'm going in first..."  
  
"No you're not Sonic! Knuckles exclaimed, but it was too late, Sonic pulled out and put on his metal gloves and ran through the automatic doors too fast for the rest of the group too react.  
  
But as soon as Sonic went through, the bars slammed down and Sonic skid too a halt.   
  
"Crap!" Sonic yelled. He was stuck in a spherical room with no way out. Suddenly, a blue hedgehog with black streaks, that looked sort of like him came down from the top in a glass cage with a hole. Sonic recognized the hedgehog from the recon computer's screen.  
  
"Do you know who I am, Sonic Hedgehog?" The voice jeered.  
  
Sonic knew the voice at once, he had heard it only once before, but the voice, thick with evil he couldn't possibly have forgotten. He bitterly muttered "Uncle Shady."  
  
"LIEUTENANT," Shady snapped.  
  
And that was the last straw for Sonic, "You! I HATE YOU! YOU TORTURED MY FRIEND, YOU NO DOUBT HELPED KILL MY MOM!!! YOU'RE FRICKING EVIL! JUST LIKE MY MOM SAID! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" Sonic charged at the glass, but rebounded off of it and was slammed to the floor with a sickening thud.  
  
"Ooh, touchy, touchy. Here, battle my friend instead."  
  
The cage Shady was in began to rise. A dark metallic grey hedgehog stood in the distance, it's eyes glowing a murderous crimson. Sonic recognized this robot, as the robot that had beat him up mercilessly. He winced as he felt his bandaged side, danged claws, those could do some real damage if they were to be stuck anywhere else...  
  
Sonic noticed a difference in the prototype this time though. This robot was working through itself, it was functioning as a real robot and not one of Shady's remote control toys.  
  
It's claws bared, the robotic hedgehog charged towards Sonic. Sonic had little time to react as the robot flew toward him. It was fast, equally as fast as Sonic, Sonic had no choice, he turned tail and ran. He found himself running up the sphere, defying gravity as he forced himself to run as fast as he could, quickly realizing, however, that it was pointless, there was no exit door.  
  
The prototype of Project S.I.L.V.E.R was furiously catching up. The two were neck-and-neck. Sonic's mind raced as fast as his legs; this was NOT good. He raced up and around the loop again, not feeling the usual sickness anyone else pulling this stunt would. And suddenly, as the organic hedgehog was coming down it happened... The Silver prototype kicked out with his right foot and kicked Sonic in his (more like WAS) uninjured side, causing Sonic to lose his balance and roll roughly to the sphere's floor, bouncing along the way.  
  
Sonic grunted with each painful collision and gave a louder, final grunt as he hit the bottom of the sphere. Great, now BOTH of his sides ached terribly. However, he had no time to worry about his side because the prototype leaped from where he was and descended in a sharp dive, claws first. Sonic quickly rolled to the side as the robot's claws punctured the floor for what should have been a quick and fatal blow to Sonic's head. The miserable blue hedgehog quickly ascended to his feet and ran around the roceovering robot's backside, swiftly punching the prototype in its back. The robot was knocked slightly off balance. Sonic took this time advantage to get a good, solid hit into the robot's head. The prototype, however, got up and knocked Sonic in the stomach, throwing him back several feet.  
  
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Outside the spherical room  
  
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Knuckles helplessly watched inside as Sonic was pummeled by the robot, he was hit in his right side, and then in his stomach, he was then kicked in the thigh.   
  
"Oh god, he's getting killed out there!" Knuckles softly commented.  
  
"You know there ain't nothin' I can do, this blaster won't penetrate that super steel on those bars." Juke whispered. She had her back to Knuckles and was crouched in a catcher positionusing her pistols scope to it's full advantage. Any robots deciding to walk down the hallway had better have said it's prayers in the last hallway.  
  
Tails had his eyes covered, he couldn't bother watching his friend lay there hurt.  
  
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Room 3D  
  
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Sonic lay there clutching his left side with an all too evident grimace on his face. Dang it, he had failed. Why the heck had he just ran into the room without thinking? Knuckles was right and dang it all, his impulsiveness was sooner or later going to get him killed.   
  
The organic hedgehog shut his eyes, no use in witnessing his own death, just the feeling of his skin being punctured, the immense pain, and then... nothing, just nothing... But there came no pain, in fact, it felt as if he were being dragged by heavy arms. "I must be ascending to heaven..." His pained mind thought, and as the movement stopped, Sonic opened his eyes to see the prototype laying a couple feet away on the ground convulsing and sparking.  
  
"The heck?" Sonic thought. He walked over and kicked the robot several times, careful not to hurt his feet. Satisfied by the prototype's dimly glowing eyes shutting off, he was surprised to look ahead and see an opening... was this a door? Upon closer inspection, the door revealed a lift, obviously made as the only way to the control room, The blue hedgehog stepped in and ascended.  
  
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Flying Battery Control Room  
  
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Shady ran for it. More illegal thoughts, shady wondered what the heck was going on with the bots subject, but as he bolted for the emergency escape ships, he remembered that he must take the robot with him. Darn. He descended on the lift to hallway 1C, the western entrance to room 3D, he would pick up the robot, head backward from there, and into an escape ship, the lift landed with a "ding!" and he ran from there, thank god for his inherited runnig speed.  
  
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2 minutes later, Flying Battery Control room  
  
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The first thing Sonic did was release the bars so Knuckles and the rest of the team could come in, then when the echidna reached the room, Sonic let him take over the controls.  
  
"Okay, we are executing this plan, there is no turning back. Juke and Tails, go to the escape ship bay, Sonic, stay with me and you know what to do as a last ditch resort. Counting down... 3...2...1...GO! GO! GO!!!"  
  
Juke and Tails ran off, the Lieutenant knew the general direction of the escape ships, and Sonic could locate it on the map. Knuckles checked and double-checked his current position: About 5 miles from the mobian ocean and 100 miles from the Floating Island.  
  
Slowly, deliberately, Knuckles turned off the auto-pilot and lightly pushed in the flight yoke, starting a slow descent.  
  
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Escape Boat  
  
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"Commander, this is Lieutenant Shady, FLYING BATTERY HAS BEEN COMPRIMISED, I REPEAT, FLYING BATTERY HAS BEEN COMPRISED." Shady yelled into his microphone over the dull roar of the escape ship's engines.  
  
"Lieutenant, what's your status? Where is your destination?"   
  
"Robotropolis, sir."  
  
"I don't like the incoming report I'm getting here Lieutenant. This prototype is thinking illegal thoughts and you had BEST stop it Lieutenant."  
  
"Yes, sir, I understand, sir. Lieutenant Shady, over and out."  
  
---  
  
Sonic, ignoring the immense pain in both of his sides, grabbed Knuckles' arms and ran him to the escape ship bay where Juke was sitting with Tails in the biggest ship.  
  
"Ready to deploy Knuckles." She said, making final checks on all the guages. Knuckles hopped over the edge and in with ease. Sonic wasn't so lucky. He painfully, put one leg over, and groaning with pain, pulled himself over and in.  
  
"Sonic, are you alright?" Knuckles asked, concern on his face.  
  
"No, not really..." Sonic replied, not bothering to try and mask the pain.  
  
"Juke, put the dome up."  
  
And suddenly, the outdoors became indoors. Sonic found his way to the single bed on the tiny escape ship and laid down on it carefully. He hurt terribly from his head down to his legs. He had taken one heck of a beating in the last few hours, and it was beginning to show. As the sun set in the sky of the Western Mobius continent, he heard a loud crash which he knew to be the Flying Battery crashing to its death. Sonic shut his eyes, he finally, well, for the moment anyways, would be safe. He let himself fall asleep, he deserved it, sweet victory was his.  
  
[End of Part 1] 


	21. Field Game

SuperSonic Speed  
  
[Part 2]  
  
Chapter 21: Field Game  
  
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Sonic slowly awoke. He moved his head a little to the left and opened his dark green eyes. His world was blurry and he tried hard to interpret what his blurred eyes were seeing, which wasn't what he expected. The blue hedgehog rubbed his eyes to clear the blurriness. He sat up in his bed, acknowledging the fact that the pain was still very evident in his sides. Groaning, he looked around the room. Interesting, Sonic thought, he most definately wasn't in the escape ship.  
  
No, definately not. He was laying on a very soft, white mattress that reeked with class. The floor below him was tiled in black and white marble, even the walls were bricked perfectly with age old stone. A thought occured to Sonic, "Oh no! I've been captured!" His thoughts raced. Why was he not bound? How was he captured? Where were the others? His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, and none other than Knuckles the Echidna came through.  
  
"Sonic! You're awake, how are you feeling?" The echidna asked, shutting the door behind him.  
  
"Not as tired, but my sides still hurt awful." Sonic replied, laying back in his bed. "Where the heck am I anyway?"  
  
"Hidden Palace," The Guardian replied.  
  
"Wow, nice place ya got here," Knuckles only grinned.  
  
"Just lay there Sonic, if you're hurting like that, you shouldn't be up." And the Echidna left the room.  
  
Sonic pulled the covers over his head and thought what he had been through in the last year. It had all started back in his home, it had started with three knocks, it had been the emergency signal, and one heck of an emergency had it been. But who the heck was he kidding? He knew when it started. It started when Robotnik trashed Metropolis with his buzzbombers. His real journey, however, hadn't begun until he'd had a face-to-face with the madman himself, who had had a sick pleasure of torturing Sonic with several volts worth of electricity. He knew he would have been dead, had Juke not had a change of heart and saved him. And now, he wa son the floating island, undergoing training with one of the world's strongest fighters. Robotnik would meet Sonic again one day, and a pretty day it would not be.  
  
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Robotropolis  
  
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As Lieutenant Shady walked into the main control room in the bunker, he wished he could close his ears. He knew that this was not going to be fun, he had just destroyed Robotnik's most expensive airship, and the Commander was not gonig to be happy.  
  
"I'm sorry sir." Was all that Shady said quietly, with his head held low. And to the Lieutenant's surprise, Robotnik didn't yell.  
  
"I'm not surprised. Stupid Silver prototype, Lieutenant, you get that thing working right now!!! I don't want one more illegal thought coming from that robot. Do I make myself perfectly clear Lieutenant?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Now, go, I don't want to hear from you again!"  
  
"YES SIR!" Shady made his way out of the room and sighed with relief.  
  
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Hidden Palace  
  
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Sonic awoke in his be, he figured he must have dozed off. Sonic sat up over the edge, realizing he wasn't hurting nearly as bad as before. He got up, opened the door of the room he was in... and found himself back in the main chamber.  
  
"Hey Sonic!" Knuckles called.   
  
"Hey!" The blue hedgehog called back.  
  
"Are you feeling any better?"  
  
"Tons."  
  
"Good," Knuckles commented going over to a keypad. A tall door opened on the far side of the chamber. "We're going back to the surface, Some recon Juke has done shows that all of our huts are still intact and that the worst damage was down by Hydrocity."  
  
"Way past cool!"  
  
"Hey, can you walk all the way to the surface? Its some stairs and it will take us right to the huts."  
  
"Yeah, should be able to... But I dunno... I just feel real tired..."  
  
"It should go away, if not, I have my hover board here." After several minutes, Sonic and Knuckles made it back to the huts.  
  
---  
  
1 month later  
  
---  
  
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Juke were gathered in the Guardian's hut.  
  
"Your training has been going well, but training is not enough. Robotnik has found us, and he struck us first. And now, after two missions, it is clear that we need you two to go through your military technique training early." Knuckles handed light green combat uniforms to Sonic and Tails. "We're playing a little game in the field today, it's called 'Capture the Flag'"  
  
---  
  
10 minutes later  
  
---  
  
Knuckles and Juke were dressed in black combat uniforms, while Sonic in Tails were dressed in light green. The were all standing in a large, grassy field with several obstacles seperating the two ends of the field. At each end was a flag, one black, and one green.   
  
"When I give the signal, our teams are will go across the course, you can take any route, but you have to get to the flag and bring it back here. BUT theres a catch. Black team has pistols set on a stunner setting, Green team can only use hand-to-hand. Either way, if you're hit, and I mean hit, not just bumped, one hit, and you go back to your base, stay there for a minute. During that minute, you cannot hit anyone, talk, move or do anything to the benefit of your team. When the minute is up, you may go again. The first team to capture one flag wins. Oh, and Sonic, Twenty mile per hour speed limit," The blue hedgehog smirked, "NOW get ready!"  
  
The two teams went to their opposite ends and Sonic readied himself to run. "Tails, you ready?"  
  
Tails grinned, "Yeah!" and with that, a loud buzzing sounded. Sonic ran forward, Tails barely keeping pace behind him. "Sonic slow down!!!"  
  
And sighing, the hedgehog did. "We're gonna lose because of you!!!"   
  
The blue hedgehog ran to the left sideline, into a highly wooded area. He ran through it, ignoring the sharp branches thrashing against his fur. He could see it! The black flag was in his sights! However, on the black team, something else was in sight...  
  
"Target Acquired," Juke whispered into her headset.  
  
"Black Sniper: Fire," Knuckles whipered back. And Juke complied, and the next thing she whispered through the microphone was, "Tango Down."  
  
Tails shrieked, "Sonic!!!" his friend had fallen to the ground, clutching his left arm.  
  
Juke was crouched across the field from Tails, looking at him. "I have Tango in sight, no clear shot." She had no choice but to engage him in close quarters. Keeping her head low, she crouched and moved behind the cover of rocks. "He's just looking at Tango 1."   
  
"What are you going to do?" Knuckles asked, almost to the flag.  
  
"Only one thing TO do." She snuck closer. She was about fifteen feet from the orange fox when she pulled out a silver cannister. "Fire in the hole!" She turned her head and plugged her ears. After hearing the familiar ringing in her ears, she turned her head, ran toward the startled (and probably blinded) fox. Taking careful aim, she targeted his left shoulder (headshots were strictly prohibited). Pulling the trigger, she watched the fox fall. "Clear."  
  
Knuckles darted across the field, jumping over rocks, and climbing over logs. At last he saw his home base and plunged his flag into the empty flag hole. A computerized voice droned, "Black team has captured the flag" followed by, "Black team wins!"  
  
Sonic was in shock. "No fair! You cheated!"   
  
And Knuckles only replied, "You heard it, 'Black team wins." 


	22. Evening the Odds

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 22: Evening the Odds  
  
---  
  
Field  
  
---  
  
Sonic laid on the ground in disbelief. How could he have lost? He was much faster than Knuckles, and his uniform camouflaged him. He returned to (harsh) reality, and found himself able to move only barely. It felt as if every part of his body (minus his head) were asleep. And so, he lay there, unable to determine what went wrong.  
  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Knuckles yelled, swinging his fist into the air, "That was terrible!"  
  
Lieutenant Juke walked over to Tails, "Kid, what were you thinking? You were standing still there a whole minute! If I wouldn't have shot you you'd have been there longer! Good grief! Easiest shot of my life, if this had been real, you'd have been dead long ago."  
  
"It's your fault Sonic! You ran too fast!"  
  
"Did not you slo-mo!!!"  
  
"And that is your failure," Knuckles said, "No wonder you were unable to beat us. You cannot expect to win, a one on two is never a good situation."  
  
"He's right, I cleared the way for Knuckles to put the flag down, 'black team wins' easy as cake with you two doin' your own thing."  
  
"Again!" Knuckles shouted, "Three flags this time, and this time, you don't have to go back to your base if you're hit, the stunners charge will disable you long enough."  
  
Sonic got up, still feeling shaky from the shot he'd taken. "Team, what a load of crap, I can do this on my own without Tails slowing me down."  
  
The signal sounded and Sonic ran off on his own again. "Snipers..." He thought, looking around wildly and wishing he had binoculars. A shriek behind him sounded as Tails was hit. "Yep, definately Sniper,"  
  
And then he saw the sniper emerge from the woods. He instantly recognized the sniper as Lieutenant Juke. "Fine then," he thought, "I'll beat her at her own game."  
  
Sonic picked up his feet and maneuvered his way behind her, surprised she hadn't turned about and zapped him. Now that he was behind her, how could he take her out? He remembered his combat training on how to attack somebody weiftly and silently from behind. Sonic grinned; this would be a piece of cake. THe hedgehog made his move. Hand straight out and stiff as a board, he slapped it down against her neck. He watched her lay there unconscious, head slumped against her outstrectched right arm. He leaped with joy and danced. "I got one! I got one! I got one!"   
  
That was more than enough noise to alert Knuckles' sharply trained ears. The Echidna's pistol lacked a scope, so he ran closer (but remained hidden from view). Sonic was too busy having his party to realize that Knuckles was lining up a perfect shot. Bang. Numbness. Sonic was back on the ground, two times in a row, what a record.  
  
"Thanks for giving your position away." Knuckles commented.  
  
"Welcome," Sonic muttered sarcastically, attempting to get to his feet.  
  
"You know, that wasn't a bad knockout there, nice hit." Sonic let a small grin form. "But the party was uncalled for. If this would have been real, Robotnik would have laughed for a minute and killed you. Now, that's enough for now, we will have another game at nightfall."   
  
---  
  
Azure Lake- 6/3/4460- 1600 hours  
  
---  
  
Sonic sat by the lake recalling his embarrassing losses of earlier. A party, really? What the heck was he thinking? He sighed and looked over the rippling azure blue water. Although he would never admit it aloud, deep down, the blue hedgehog knew that Knuckles had been right. Sonic would never win alone.  
  
Fine, he would give the orange fox a chance tonight, but if he blew it, Sonic wouldn't be working with the fox anytime soon.  
  
---  
  
Field- 1800 hours  
  
---  
  
The game was ready to begin, it was one flag, no nightvision goggles, and that meant that either team would be hard to spot.   
  
"Wait!!!" Sonic cried out, "I need a time-out here!"   
  
"Take all the time you need," Knuckles replied.  
  
Sonic leaned in close to Tails, "Look man, sorry about last time. I just really want to win and I guess..." Sonic paused; he hated admitting any weaknesses, "I guess I need your help."  
  
Tails stood there shocked, "Uh... okay... whatda ya want me to do Sonic?"  
  
"It'll be dangerous with your skin color, but I want you to fly up and give me the location of people."  
  
"Right. And if discovered?"  
  
"Drop altitude and snake through the woods. But most important of all, make sure Knux don't get that flag," Tails nodded and Sonic signaled Knuckles that he was ready.  
  
The game begun and Tails ascended into the air, semi-camouflaged in his green uniform. Sonic took off like a madman, vaulting over diagonally placed logs and running into the woods on the right sideline.  
  
Noone seemed to notice the orange fox hovering in the air, although he could notice them. "kay Sonic, Juke seems to be the flag-runner this time, she's about halfway through the course. Knuckles is camped near the flag, but he's crouched barely inside the woods, be on the lookout for him.   
  
"Okay, gotcha Tails, thanks," Sonic grinned, Tails could be useful afterall. He ran on, ducking under and jumping over the many loose branches of the woods. There! At the end! Knuckles was crouched, spying for anyone dumb enough to head for the flag straight on. Sonic decided he could go to twenty miles per hour and speed by the Echidna.  
  
Sonic ran toward the Echidna, stiffening his shoulder along the way. Knuckles turned his head and raised his weapon a second to late as Sonic hurtled into the Echidna, knocking him sideways and giving Sonic a clear pathway to the flag.  
  
"I got the flag! I got the flag! Hold ours until I get there!" Sonic yelled, running as fast as the danged speed limit would officially let him.  
  
Tails came through on his headset, "Watch out Sonic! Juke's running toward the flag on the left sideline! She's about even with you!"  
  
"Well do something!!!" Sonic shouted, pounding his feet furiously, racing against time to plant the flag. Sonic was neck and neck with Juke as they neared the flag. Just a few more feet... Suddenly, Tails swooped down from the sky and tackled Juke, sending her flying backwards to the ground. She crashed with a large thud and forcefully threw off the orange fox. She quickly drew her weapon and fired... It contacted with Sonic's leg as he was putting in the flag. The tingling spread throughout his body and his legs gave, but it was too little too late, for Sonic had already plunged the flag and the end message had sounded.  
  
"Green Team Wins." 


	23. A Red and Green Night

SuperSonic Speed-- chapter 23: A Green and Red Night  
  
---  
  
Had his body not been asleep, Sonic would have leaped with joy. "green Team Wins" looped in his head, he had won... no, not he, THEY had won. Tails' body wasn't asleep and he WAS leaping with joy.  
  
Juke holstered her weapon and walked over to Sonic, "Well, congrats kid, looks like you got yourselves a mission accomplished here." She helped Sonic to his feet and smiled, "I honestly thought it woulda took ya a lot longer to finally work with Tails, as much as you like him, we knew that you wouldn't wanna use teamwork until you got your rears kicked enough. But very good work, kid.  
  
Knuckles walked over to Tails and Sonic, "Excellent job, I thought you would be going down yet again, I am happy to see that you two decided to work together, remember, You absolutely CANNOT take Robotnik's army by yourself. You will need to work like this not just this time, but EVERY time, if we even so much as hope to win back the world. And so, this field game will be a daily exercise, but for now, you are dismissed.  
  
---  
  
6/4/4460 0500 hours  
  
---  
  
Sonic awoke to the usual barking from the guardian to get up. Although sick of having to get up so danged early, he knew he'd be waking up to purple skies for a long time. They met at the usual place, Knuckles hut, for their daily training assignments...  
  
---  
  
Knuckles Hut  
  
---  
  
"We have received a transmission from the chaotix." Knuckles started.   
  
Juke stood to his side. "Wait, didn't those guys, like evacuate the island in that whole mess we had?"  
  
"Yes. They are currently outside Metropolis Zone, or, as they said, what WAS Metropolis Zone. They said you would have a hard time believing how much it changed with Robotnik's rule." Sonic put his head down, he wanted nothing to do with Metropolis. "Anyways, the point is that the Chaotix want us to come down there, but before we can do that, you two must learn stealth."  
  
The team stepped out onto the field. "Those Chaotix guys want us to run a mission for them, get some surveillance equipment into the city. Now, today, we have a basic lesson, tonights lesson'll be more advanced, you kids need to learn practically everything in a week." Juke walked toward a line, "The 1-2 1-2 thing works here too. The key is, you NEED to pick up your feet as you walk. If you don't, you'll be makin' tons of extra noise." Sonic and Tails followed along, imitating the Lieutenant's movements. "In time, you'll naturally walk that way on a mission."  
  
Knuckles was ready for his part. "When the walls are short, you'll need to duck, but be able to move quickly, watch." Knuckles bent his knees low and stuck his head out so that his body was at a 90 degree angle with his feet, "You'll want to keep your head as low as possible, but tipped up slightly so that you can see where your going."  
  
Similar Training for other movements followed, Juke and Knuckles rotating the role of teacher and demonstrater. Most of the training involved moving over or under objects and one actually involved moving through an air duct, a lesson that would surely one day prove useful.  
  
---  
  
Knuckles Hut-- 6/5/4460 0140 hours  
  
---  
  
Sonic was exhausted, he had spent the entire day training and his mind felt overloaded with information. Knuckles had said that this would be a test, and a hard one at that.  
  
"Tonight's test is crucial to your being able to fight Robotnik. During the day, even with stealth, it will still be very difficult to get into Robotropolis undetected. Our best chance is at night and we must learn to operate as such. So tonight We will test your courage. There's a hill not too far away and some rope suspended between it and this hut. It actually starts at this hut if you want to be exact. The test is that you must use the rope ot get to the hill."  
  
"That's easy!!!" Sonic exclaimed.  
  
"It wouldn't be a test if it was easy. It is a test of your courage, and so, it is a live-fire exercise."  
  
Sonic's jaw gaped, "What? Are you nuts!!! You do know I'm no good to you if I'm dead right?"   
  
The Guardian smiled, "If you do everything I have taught you, then you will be fine, no worries Sonic, these lasers do not have any penetration."  
  
Sonic didn't seem reassured, and he knew that knuckles wasn't telling the entire truth, nothing was ever as expected, he remembered Knuckles saying countless times "You cannot simply learn the routine, you must be able to adapt to change," and Knuckles would always throw in a little extra.  
  
----  
  
10 minutes later  
  
---  
  
It was pitch black in the (very) early morning, Sonic stood outside the hut with his nightvision goggles on. Knuckles stood beside him as he readied himself for the ropes.  
  
"It is imperative that you do not fall, because we have live fire going on above and below the ropes. As an added challenge, I have my own variation of enemy SWATbots that will be firing at you from the ground. Be Aware Sonic, it is very easy to fail this mission, which is why you have  
  
two tries, which is very generous, because in a real mission, there is no second chance."  
  
Sonic had no comments, he just stared at the rope, and the gap between the start and finish.  
  
Knuckles stepped far away, so he wouldn't be in the line of fire, "Ready Sonic?"  
  
Sonic gave a thumbs up and flashed a grin, displaying his everlasting love for adventure.  
  
"Go, go, GO!!!"  
  
Sonic jumped up, the rope was so high up, he was barely able to grab the rope. After getting both his hands on it, he used the wall to climb to get his feet higher, in a way, "climbing" up the wall. Then, when his feet were at the top, he threw himself back and locked his feet over the rope.  
  
"Bad Start Sonic!!!" Knuckles called.   
  
The guns started, and Sonic felt... fear, yes, it was definately fear, something he rarely felt anymore after Knuckles' Training. His common sense kept telling him not to go across, that he was going to die. But despite that, his inner self told him to keep going, that his knowledge would save him.  
  
The blue hedgehog started across, one hand after the next, in this game, he knew what the extras were: Those SWATbots that were running toward him... weapons... oh no! they were actually AIMING! Now he could actually hear the "zip-zing" of gunfire behind and ahead of him.   
  
Sonic reached faster, one hand after the next, just dragging his feet along. The chilly summer night was casted in a greenish hue. Sonic was about halfway along the lengthy rope and he noticed something: The zips and zings were getting louder- which meant that he was closer and closer to getting hit.  
  
He heard a zip next to him, it made his ears ring, unfortunately, the "Zing!" didn't come in an audio form. He felt it: His left arm had been hit, and when it did, it jumped and he hit himself under the eyes, protected by the nightvision, so in addition to the horrendous pain in his arm from the laser, he had also banged it, doubling the pain. He yelled a yell he was sure Knuckles could hear, even though seperated by the distance.  
  
Sonic continued on, he would be even worse deadmeat if he stayed there. Although he found he had another problem: He could not see. The world was in the form of a green square, and he realized that when he had "hit himself" he had unfocused his nightvision, it was now useless, he couldn't adjust it in the middle of the rope.  
  
He pulled the goggles up and continued further, he couldn't see well, but he could barely see where he was on the rope. His injured arm was becoming numb from the adrenaline rush, and wouldn't be much of a problem for a little while.  
  
As the seconds tick, ticked away, he found himself yelling on the inside that he was almost there. Of course he was denying the fact that he really WASN'T "almost" there, but it kept him going, and after five minutes, he began seeing the truth: The pain was still there, and it WAS slowing him down, he wasn't "almost" there.  
  
Sonic began trying the inchworm approach: Bridging gaps at a time with his (uninjured) right hand. it helped him that he could only use his good hand if needed, and so, he let his left arm dangle. The climb seemed to drag on and on, his left arm swinging back and forth as he went along. And Sonic began to realize (this time for real) that he WAS almost there. He struggled the last few feet, his breathing heavy and labored, his vision blurry. At last, he looked down and could see the hill below him, his shadow was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He unlocked his feet and let go of the rope with his hands, landing on his back with a terrible thud. The blue hedgehog got up, cradling his left arm with his right.  
  
Inspecting his arm, Sonic saw a hole about a half-inch wide on one side, his other, contained an exit wound. He couldn't feel it because of the numbness, but his left hand was wet with blood (Sonic would later discover the streaks of red in the grass below the rope)  
  
Knuckles ran out to Sonic, and softly asked if he was all right.  
  
"Yeah... I will be when we get back to the hut."  
  
---  
  
6/5/4460 0215 hours  
  
---  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog winced as Knuckles bandaged the hedgehog's bleeding arm.  
  
"Boy, is that a bad one,"  
  
"Tell me about it,"  
  
"I was certain you would have slipped,"  
  
"You lied,"  
  
"About what?"  
  
"You know, about them not penetrating... well, at least I now know to stay as far away as I can from them,"  
  
"That was the idea,"   
  
"What a price,"   
  
Knuckles finished bandaging Sonic's arm, "How bad does it hurt?"  
  
"Ah... I'll live I think,"  
  
"You know, it was a necessary price, if you get shot in a real battle, there will be nobody to save you, it's you versus the world out there,"  
  
"I know, I know..."  
  
And so, Sonic had passed his test of courage, and was that much closer to his first REAL mission to Robotropolis. 


	24. Recon Quest

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 24: Recon Quest  
  
---  
  
Shooting Range 6/5/4460 1000 hours  
  
---  
  
The Shooting Range was a fairly large circular building with a domed roof. Inside, were targets and places to shoot from. but there was also a moving target range which was a circular area dedicated to practicing Close Quarters Combat with a solid, three-dimensional, moving target.  
  
Lieutenant Juke the Hedgehog took her time firing at several stationary targets that were three-demensionial SWATbot look-alikes. After becoming fairly comfortable with that, she started up the close quarters combat course and readied herself, as the machine started up fast.  
  
She practiced running and shooting, and then somersaulting, quickly recovering and shooting, and then repeated the routine going at different angles.   
  
Her current line now was to roll to the right, use her right hand to push her up, and take aim and hit the opponent in the head. She started the maneuver, rolling a perfect roll, and pushing herself up to her feet quickly, and she aimed, she could see it now... perfect headshot! But that was not to be. Juke pulled the trigger and heard it click empty, and even though she made an attempt to react to this unexpected misfortune, she felt the foam dart attach itself to her heart. Game Over.  
  
"What the heck! This thing's supposed to be good for two years of power! I just got it!" She yelled to herself allowed as she banged the pistols and attempted to fire it, only to hear clicks.  
  
---  
  
Knuckles Hut - 10 minutes later  
  
---  
  
"Knuckles!" She exclaimed, dropping the gun on Knuckles' desk.  
  
"Hey! Hey! What's wrong! And I do mean with you, dropping your weapon on my desk like that!" Knuckles asked as he swiveled in his chair to face the Lieutenant.  
  
"My gun's dead Knuckles!"   
  
The red echidna blinked, "Excuse me?"  
  
"It's dead, try to fire it!"  
  
Knuckles, clicked it on and tried to fire at his personal target on the wall: A picture of Robotnik. "What the heck! These SuperCharged KC200's are supposed to be good for two years before dying like that!"  
  
"I know! I know!"  
  
"Hmm... Let's see, I know the Chaotix were testing a new pistol before they left, I just don't know if it was done."  
  
"Really? What's it got?" Juke asked, interested.  
  
"Well, it's called a DFG Tactical. It looks pretty standard except for the tactical flashlight hooked underneath, could be really handy inside Robotnik's complexes."  
  
"I bet."  
  
"See, the thing is, the Chaotix were testing these "Charge Paks" and their reliability compared to the SuperCharges like the one you had."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"We were finding out that your SuperCharges weren't very stable and would actually lose their charge WAY before the two years they were supposed to. That's bad, I think you saw what happens in the heat of battle if you run out."  
  
"You were watching?"  
  
"You bet."  
  
"Well then how didn't you know my problem?"  
  
"I thought you might have clicked it off on accident during your roll."  
  
"Ah..."   
  
"Anyways, the charge packs, are basically like the magazines those really, really old fashioned guns used to use. They swap in-and-out and are good for so many shots. And, if you reload at smart times, you won't be stuck empty in the middle of a battle."  
  
"I don't know if there good, but they have to be better than those SuperCharges." She admitted.  
  
"Well, you're unarmed for now, and that's not good, because our mission is in three busy days. I'll have to give the Chaotix a call and find out where the prototype is.  
  
"Okay then, I guess I'd better skill up on my hand-to-hand, might need it."  
  
"Dismissed Lieutenant," Knuckles nodded to her and turned back to his desk.  
  
---  
  
Robotropolis 6/5/4460 1227 hours  
  
---  
  
Robotnik marched through a large spherical building out in the middle of the desert the sign read "Robotnik Aeronautics Building, Authorized Personnel ONLY" He was touring the complex, carefully inspecting the different sections, his yellow cape magnificently waving back and worth as he walked. Project Desert Eagle was beginning amount to something.   
  
The project, had been started more than five years ago, long before Robotnik had become king of the world. The project had been top secret to anyone but the boss and his worker bots, who were creating the metallic pieces for the project, and now, the project was coming together, and fast. There was only a year left until its completion, and when the pieces were put together, and the jets fired, not onlyy would Mobius be his, it would be destroyed, and nobody that was spared, would ever dare defy their king, Robotnik, eternal ruler supreme.  
  
---  
  
Open Field 6/5/4460 1915 hours  
  
---  
  
Knuckles paced around Tails. "Time to see what you're made of,"  
  
The fox nodded, fear evident in his eyes.  
  
"Yours is much easier than Sonic's, although still hard in it's own rights. What we have here is a two-story office complex of Robotnik's. We need you to get inside, evading the security system and detection from any and all robotic guards, in the end room, you need to bug the phone, it's real easy, just snap it on the phone jack quiet-like and then sneak out to the boundary line.  
  
You must not be caught in eyesight at anytime, or you will be captured. I will know if you have planted the bug, so make sure you plant it, there is no time limit, just keep it reasonable, you have a utility belt with rope and a magnetic hook for climbing across a ceiling, although you can only stay up there for a minute. If you are seen and caught, you fail. Understand?"  
  
Tails nodded.  
  
"Go."  
  
Tails peeked from behind a metallic wall, watching the guards rotate in and out. When he felt he knew the rotation well enough, he snuck his way into the complex. He heard heavy, metallic footsteps creep around the corner and he quickly dove into the room to his left, hiding behind a wooden counter.  
  
Tails checked again, watching the guards rotate in and out, not even checking the rooms. This would be too easy. He had exactly one minute from the time he saw the next guard, until he'd come back.  
  
There! the guard turned around and turned the corner and Tails moved, straight ahead were the stairs, and as the guard checked the insides of the other rooms ahead, Tails quickly, quietly picking his feet up, ran past and up the stairs. This floor was entirely different, it was a madhouse. There were three guards here, each patrolling a section of two rooms. The thing here though, was to avoid being caught by the guard up ahead.  
  
Tails patiently waited, his adrenilane rushing, wanting to run in plant the bug and win! But alas, he couldn't, because that way he'd surely end up captured.  
  
The fox waited for a moment before rushing past and diving out of sight. Just One more section to go, and two bots patrolling. Two doors facing each other and no intersections between. Tails Prower thought hard about getting past this one. There was no intersection between to dive into, and sneaking into rooms was definately out of the question. So what other way across was there?  
  
And then Tails remembered his magnetic attachment. He took it out, fired it when the guards were in rooms, and moved quietly across as they changed, right above their heads.  
  
And then he saw the one room ahead, he was there! Excitement filled him as he reached for the bug. This room was different! Instead of metal-outside-but-wood-insides, this room was carpeted, had a closet, a window and a desk and bed. The phone jack was right beside the bed, and he carefully, noiselessly attached the bug. But now how to get out?  
  
before he could think of that though, he heard approaching footsteps, had he made a calculating error on guard time? Or simply been too loud? Where to hide now? The closet was way too noisy, but the guard was coming, and fast. He quickly decided and slid under the bed.  
  
As the guards inspected the room, they checked the closet... the one Tails could have been in. Tails was miserably scared as the guards seemingly checked everywhere except where he was. As the heavy steps faded, Tails breathed a sigh of relief and slid out. But if he calculated guard shifts wrong, getting out would be much harder. There was only one way out now: The window.  
  
The orange fox moved toward the square window and quietly pulled it open. Taking the rope out from his belt, he looked for a place to attach the end to. There! A lightpole outside! After testing the metal and deeming it sturdy enough for himself, he tied the rope on and began his descent. Time seemed to go too long and he heard more approaching footsteps from his right. He jumped the last two feet and pulled with all his strength for the other end to come out. Tails sprinted to the other side of the building, no guards in site. He could see the boundary line and he scrambled toward it. He finally reached it and dove across.  
  
Tails could hear the mental "ding! ding! ding! We have a winner!" As he went across. He had actually won at something! And something scary at that! Tails never wanted to do anything like this again. Although he would soon find out that he would be doing it almost everyday.  
  
---  
  
Juke's Hut - 6/5/4460 2331 hours  
  
---  
  
Juke awoke midnight to the sound of a large banging at the door and a weak moan of "Owen dup"  
  
Carefully, The Lieutenant opened the door and gasped with horror when Knuckles the Echidna fell into her arms, ice cold, mouth bleeding, and cut in several places.  
  
"Knuckles!" She exclaimed, "What the heck happened to you?" But it was too late, as he had already sank deeply into unconsciousness. 


	25. Cold, Hard, cache

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 25: Cold, Hard, Cache  
  
----  
  
Juke laid Knuckles down on her bed, "Looks like I ain't gettin' no sleep tonight. I wonder what happened to him?" He was so, so cold to the touch it was surprising he hadn't frozen to death.  
  
She stepped outside, yes it was a rather cold night, but not cold enough that Knuckles would be so frozen, and what about the cuts? The Lieutenant walked over to Knuckles' hut not too far from where she was. When she got there, she found his hut perfectly normal, evertything in order.   
  
The real difference between Knuckles hut and the rest was in the size. A regular hut contained only a bed and a desk, Knuckles hut, however, contained several desks littered with tactical maps and the like and two computers. One of which, was ordinary, the other, was the recon computer.  
  
She checked his regular computer, on it was a picture of a DFG Tactical. It was a sleek silver, and had curved angles. A tactical flashlight was attached to the bottom and it was just as she had imagined. Listed underneath were the words "C-Cache" and coordinates. She traced it through the computer and as it pinged in on the location, everything fell into place.  
  
The Lieutenant raced back to her hut, where the Guardian Echidna still lay still in her bed. She spotted it right away; a buldge in the pocket of the echidna's black jacket. Carefully, she reached for it and snagged the object out of there. In her hands she held the DFG Tactical, though its chill forced her to set it down after a few seconds. Juke wasn't surprised at the chill it carried, but she was surprised at its lightweightedness.  
  
As Knuckles was using her bed, she decided to sleep under her desk. Turning the light off she settled in under there, a pillow cushioning her head against the hard floor.  
  
---  
  
The next morning  
  
---  
  
Knuckles awoke to the soreness of his entire body, but, he reasoned, it sure beat being unable to feel it at all. He checked himself over, the pistol was missing! His entire trip was for nothing! But he didn;t panic, because he remembered having it.  
  
The Guardian checked himself over, his cold hands cut, his mouth bloody. He slowly sat up in the bed he was in, taking in his surroundings, he knew where he was, afterall, he had built the place himself. Knuckles (intentionally) rolled over and off the bed, landing on his hands and knees. He slowly got up and looked around the hut, and spotted Juke laying under her computer desk.  
  
"Juke! What the heck are you doing under there?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Sorry... sir... never... again..." Juke mumbled on in some dream.  
  
"Juke wake up NOW!" Knuckles barked, obviously feeling better.  
  
Juke snapped awake. "YES SIR!"   
  
"Geez, what are you dreaming about?"  
  
"Nightmare more like, it was about my time with Robotnik... but that's not important, what's important was WHAT IN THE HECK were you doing at Ice Cap? That place is dangerous!"  
  
"What? You think I wouldn't know that? Are you insulting my intelligance Juke? The Chaotix had a..."  
  
"I know, I know weapons stash and you went and got a DFG tactical off them, Its on the desk."  
  
"Nice digging." Knuckles replied sarcastically.  
  
"Why thank you Guardian."   
  
"Alright, Alright thats enough. Now though, I have to show you what I REALLY found on Charmy's computer."  
  
"Wait CHARMY's computer? I saw it all on YOUR computer!"  
  
"Uh-uh, Charmy's the tiniest thing you've ever seen, his keyboard is microscopic, so we're all forced to hack into his computer to get any information out."  
  
"Right..."  
  
"Anyways come here, it's about 50 meters out, and I'll never ever have to go to Ice Cap again," Knuckles said, muttering a   
  
"thank god" at the end.  
  
---  
  
50 meters away  
  
---  
  
"Oh my gosh..." Juke gasped an entire army's worth of weapons and tools and computers lay before her. "How in the world did you manage to bring even a little of this back?"  
  
"I went in trips, took the hover cruiser... Lets see, we have... Frags, jammers, maps, pistols and ooh... whats this? A sniper... silencers... and wow... phone and computer bugs and more stuff! This is awesome Juke!" Knuckles yelled, but something was clearly wrong with him.  
  
"Whats up? What in the heck went on up there last night?"  
  
Knuckles swallowed slowly, "...nothing, nothing happened."  
  
---  
  
Training Complex - 6/6/4460 --1450  
  
---  
  
A rested and recorvered Knuckles stood tall in front of Sonic, Tails and Juke. "Two days to go until you two, Sonic and Tails, will face the ultimate test, a pre-mature one. And for this we need to be as ready as we can possibly be. We will train hard the today and tomorrow afternoon, after which we will rest up on the way to... Robotropolis."  
  
And Knuckles started his plan, "While I am a good close quarters fist fighter, that is not needed now. Juke has her pistol if needed, and you both know enough to save your rears. Instead, I will snipe, if needed, which hopefully will not. Remember, it is a RECON mission, stay the heck outta site, make it like you were never there.   
  
"Today's training excercise involves a true mission skill: Knowing the Unknown. You never know what you will find in enemy territory. Rarely the first time you will know the blueprints, guard rotations, and so on. Because of this, you must be prepared for anything. There are two ways to approach a situation, silently or loudly, offensive or defensive."  
  
"Each way has its ups and downs, Sonic, what happens if you take the offensive?"  
  
"Radios." Sonic answered, his mind wandering elsewhere, barely listening.  
  
"Right, he'll either call for backup, or his buddies will begin to fight you too. Good for one-on-one's, but not multiple bots, however, defensively, we can sneak in, without a fight." Knuckles finished.  
  
"Aw, C'mon Knuckles, that's no fun!" The blue hedgehog protested.  
  
"Dying is fun?"  
  
"No, but winning is."  
  
"Ah... I see where you're going, but what if Tails died because of your stupidity?"  
  
"It wouldn't be stupidity Knuckles! Who cares as long as that SWAT is dead and I'm not?"  
  
"And if you're injured?"  
  
"Radios."  
  
"Radios. Hmmph, that is your answer for everything! Remember the shooting on Mount Marble, Juke told me about it, if you thought that was terrible, you'll love the guns that have penetration."  
  
Sonic grunted. "Whatever Knuckles, just get to the exercise already, I could be dead in five minutes."  
  
"Remember the other night's hill test? You'll be in full gear this time on one side of the hill, and opforce on the other. The goal is sneak undetected to the other side or eliminate the squad, which will it be? You do not know how many there are, the weapons or anything else, you must rely on your abilities to scout and think on the fly. Are you ready?"  
  
Sonic nodded firmly and smirked, "You bet!"  
  
---  
  
15 Minutes Later, the Hill  
  
---  
  
Sonic was ready to rock, he was in his black combat jacket, metal gloves, padded shoes, shin, knee and elbow guards, and communications ready.  
  
"Ready Tails?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Ready Sonic!" came the fox's response.  
  
"In position, waiting for Go." Sonic whispered.  
  
Knuckles voice came over the radio, "Ready for Go. Go in 3... 2... 1..."  
  
Sonic didn't have to wait for the word, he knew to go even before the yelling started.  
  
"Ok," Sonic whispered, "Hit the floor, crawl up the hill using your elbows."  
  
The fox complied and the reached the top alongside Sonic.  
  
"Right, now you just peek and whisper out the locations. Easy 'nuff eh?"  
  
THe fox nodded, but was shaking, and not from cold.  
  
"Get 'em!"  
  
"Ok... one to the left and one to the right, behind these two hut-like thingies."  
  
"Anything you notice like weaknesses?"  
  
"nope, sneak up one one each side... I guess"  
  
The plan worked fairly well as they snaked across the course undetected. Sonic pointed to Tails and then to the guard in robot armor on the left and then he pointed to himself and then the bot on the right. Tails nodded and Sonic waved his arm up and down three times. Go. Go. Go.  
  
---  
  
"Lieutenant Shady reporting in Commander Robotnik."  
  
"And you had better hope that that bot work Shady or it will be your end!"  
  
"YES SIR! And if not, I DO have a last resort."  
  
"And what is this 'Last resort', Lieutenant?"  
  
"I'm sorry Commander, but I cannot tell you yet, but it will be more than worth the trouble I guarantee it," Shady smiled his evil grin so wide, it made Robotnik look narrow.  
  
---  
  
Luckily for Sonic and Tails, both guards happened to have their backs turned when they approached. Tails, being the younger, weaker one, hesitated a bit before striking, giving the bot time to turn around. He hit his armored knee into the bot's midsection and tackled it to the ground. Once down, he gave a final, armored punch to the eyes to knock it offline.   
  
Meanwhile on the other side, Sonic tackled the bot and swiftly gave a one-two punch to the back of the head. The two shouted "Enemy Down!" at almost the same time.  
  
The two downed "bots" took off their helmets, revealing one to be Juke and one to be the Guardian Echidna.  
  
"Excellent job Sonic and Tails, while you probably made a bit too much noise, the execution was otherwise good. Go back to your huts and rest up, two days, rest well."  
  
---  
  
One Hour Later, Knuckles' Hut  
  
---  
  
"The fox hesitated, he's weak, too afraid, one second too many he waited." Knuckles began, evaluating the recorded training session.  
  
"The kid woulda been dead in a real battle"  
  
"I know. He has too much fear, the fox is afraid of thunder for cryin' out loud and he's 15! We can't have this Juke, too much of a risk. He's afraid of getting hurt is the big issue I think."  
  
"Who' not?"  
  
"Not one of us, we can't be, its in our job description to get hurt."  
  
"So what are we gonna do about it?"  
  
"Well, there's only one thing to do."  
  
"You don't mean?"  
  
"Oh yes I do mean. I dont think Sonic's is so afraid of getting caught and interrogated because he's been through it. It's typical Mobian nature to inflate something in your head to be so terrible until you've actually been through it. It may not be fun, but it's not as bad as you were thinking." Knuckles explained.  
  
"But... is that even moral?" Juke asked, repulsed by the idea.  
  
"I don't know. but what I do know is is that it has to be done, just like Killing Robotnik and his minions, it just has to be done." Knuckles sighed, "Can't do it until after the mission, but I am not going to use him until he has gone throguh with it, don't worry, we'll be disguised, otherwise, we'd lose his trust."  
  
Juke didn't like what Knuckles had planned, could she seriously let him go through with it? His words echoed in her mind, "It just has to be done." 


	26. A Hall painted Red

SuperSonic Speed-- Chapter 26: A hall painted red  
  
---  
  
Mushroom Hill 6/7/4460  
  
---  
  
Sonic and Tails helped load Knuckles' hovercruiser with all of the grenades, bugs and weapons that the team needed. Sonic and Tails were both dressed in their combat jackets and pants.  
  
Juke looked at the two, "If I was you, I'd get some sleep right now. Most missions don't have advance time like this to sleep with, so this is a luxury." Sonic just stared and stepped into the cruiser, a camouflaged ship with metallic insides and room enough for 10 people, equipment, and five beds.  
  
"Sure is dull in here," Sonic thought as the dim lights were turned on to reveal an elaborate instrument panel. "Whoa! Knuckles, where in the world did you get all these weapons and stuff!" Sonic exclaimed.  
  
"Where else?" Knuckles asked, peeking back at Sonic.  
  
"Chaotix?" The blue hedgehog guessed, getting into the bed with his name in orange over it.  
  
"Yep, supplier number one."  
  
"So, why do we need these stupid seatbelts anyways for bed?" Sonic asked, fumbling with the five-point harness.  
  
Knuckles flashed an often-missing smile, "You'll see."  
  
Tails did the same, and Juke strapped herself into a seat besides Knuckles.  
  
"Okay, sound off!"  
  
"Juke Here"  
  
"Sonic, ready to rock!"  
  
"Tails ready."  
  
"Alright then, WE ARE GONE!!!" Knuckles yelled as he pushed the throttle all the way forward and the team rocketed off of the island."  
  
---  
  
50 miles Northeast of Robotropolis 6/8/4460 0100  
  
---  
  
Sonic looked to his left and out the front window, he immediately recognized the surroundings even though about half of the ground of the village they were in was covered with cooled lava and burnt rubble, the standing buildings either partly burnt down or covered in scorch marks. "Knuckles! Stop the ship NOW!!!"  
  
The echidna turned back, "Why? What do you need?"  
  
"I need to see something, I know where we are!"  
  
"Oh alright, but it had BETTER be important Sonic," Knuckles said as he dropped his speed from 1,000 miles per hour, down to about 200. Knuckles shut off the thrusters and the plane dropped from about three feet off the ground and slowly decelerated.  
  
Sonic clicked off his harness and jumped down from the bed.  
  
"Wait Sonic!" Knuckles called.  
  
"Eh?" Sonic asked, puzzled.  
  
Knuckles pointed to his bag. "You may want to carry some equipment."  
  
"Good point..."  
  
"Okay... grenades, all you do is stick your finger through the hole to trip the switch, and to turn it off, simply do that to the other hole. Red are fragmentation, which means they blow big time, and the blue are jammers, they interrupt the signal between the Central Core Unit and the audio/video system, so they can't hear or see you."  
  
"Right..." Sonic said, only half understanding what the guardian had said.  
  
"Don't worry, Juke will be going with you, you can lead the way, I have some last touches to this plan that I need to make." The red echidna hit the switch and the door folded down and into a ramp. The sun was setting over the part of the village which wasn't burnt from the Mount Marble eruption.  
  
Sonic ran down and looked, remembering all too well where he was. The blue hedgehog slipped his metal gloves off and swung at the ship and winced as the impact hurt his knuckles.  
  
"What in the world are you doing Sonic?" Knuckles questioned, looking up from his work.   
  
"Nothing!" Sonic yelled, slipped his gloves back on, more than convinced the pain was real.  
  
"So Juke, do you know where we are?" Sonic asked, scanning the horizon for a particular hut.  
  
The Lieutenant pulled her uniform tighter and answered "Northern suburbs of Metropolis right?"  
  
"Yeah, Grotto Village, this is my home Juke, this is what Robotnik took from me. This is what I ran from and this is what I'm fighting for."  
  
Sonic and Juke sat on a patch of cooled lava. "You slept through Casino Night didn't you Sonic?"   
  
The blue hedgehog nodded, watching the distance, taking in the condition of each individual house. "Yeah, I slept through it."  
  
"Y'know, Robotnik bombed it so bad. There were craters EVERYWHERE."  
  
"This isn't a competition Juke, you know it. All that matters is that Robotnik gets off the planet dead or alive-- preferably dead." He looked around; this was everything he had ever known reduced to nothing.  
  
The blue hedgehog stood up. He was staring at a village that was erased from his inside, it wasn't like the mass of rubble he was looking at was what was deep down anyway. Way under, piled beneath the rubble and garbage in his head, Sonic was lead to a certain area of what was the lost Grotto Village. The layout had some familiarity, although he wouldn't admit to himself that he knew exactly where he was.   
  
Juke had now caught up with the speedy hedgehog, "Watcha doin'?" She asked, wondering why the hedgehog had singled out the particular hut.  
  
"Stay back, this... is... forget it." He couldn't finish, and it wasn't the fact that he didn't want Juke to not know, it was that he wanted to forget. This was Slam's house, the house he had spent his broken childhood in playing superhero up in the attic and wrestling in the basement. He remembered building cardboard tunnels and pretending they were air ducts.  
  
He raced inside, rapidly searching for any signs of anything. But he couldn't see the inside at all, there was no power. Sonic smacked himself for not thinking of it sooner. The blue hedgehog went back outside, "Juke! Can I borrow your gun?"  
  
"Why? Creepies inside?" The female hedgehog responded, curious.  
  
"Naw, I just need the flashlight, can't see a thing."  
  
Juke reluctantly handed it over, "Just twist the flashlight to turn it on and off and... uh... be careful, I don't need you shootin' yourself, you haven't been trained to handle one of these."  
  
"I don't need you shootin' yourself," Sonic mocked, "really, how stupid do you think I am?" And with that, he walked back into the house.  
  
Sonic flipped on the flashlight and waved it back and forth against the walls, some of them bore large, robot-sized holes, and a couple had BuzzBomber stingers sticking out of them. The couch and other various pieces of furniture were flipped over as cover and appliances and different items littered the floor, obviously thrown as last resort self-defense measures. Sonic walked over and saw the final resting place of several BuzzBombers.  
  
"Serves 'em right," Sonic thought, maneuvering up the war-torn stairs, hopping across gaps. At the top of the stairs was a trail of blood leading straight down the hallway and leading to a hole in the wall at the bedroom at the end. Light from the sinking sun flooded through the hallway and Sonic attempted to shield himself. When he made his way inside the room, he noticed that scorch marks littered the room and it was quite obvious that the BuzzBombers had bombed it and someone was unlucky enough to have been blown out of the house.  
  
The hedgehog knelt over the hole and looked down for a brief, telling second. He looked away in disgust and anger. "And Slam was telling ME not to die on him," Sonic thought grimly taking a minute to just sit inside. Head buried in an isolated corner of the room, he wondered how much worse it would get. First his mom, probably his dad, now Slam. He couldn't take this; this wasn't his specialty, even though it had turned into his war.  
  
He remembered watching TV and playing with Slam. The hero never lost anything. The hero never cried. The hero never did it for himself, but for the world. The hero was the hero because he was perfect. He'd always believed it, but now the description sounded more like God than any possible living creature on the planet.  
  
Outside, Juke waited impatiently and gave up, walking inside. "Sonic!" She yelled, but to no response. The room was too dark and made any vision at all impossible, and Sonic had her gun, and so she was forced to feel her way. "No light here, so he must be upstairs," Juke tripped over several pieces of furniture and various metallic parts and she made her way toward the stairs. She hugged the wall and climbed up. The Lieutenant gasped as her right leg fell through a gap she couldn't see. Standing straight up, she lifted her leg up and to the right, making sure she firmly had her foot on the next stair up before lifting her left foot. Juke did this with the rest of the stairs and managed to avoid several gaps that way.  
  
At the top of the stairs, the lime green hedgehog noticed the trail of blood streaking out to the end where light flooded the inside and gasped... "Oh my god... he didn't..." Juke breathed, her emotions running wild, could Sonic have tried to shoot himself with her gun? And having that not worked, had he jumped off from the second floor? "SONIC!!!" She yelled as she rushed into the room, only to discover a very quiet Sonic in the corner of the room, her gun in front of him, its flashlight switched off.  
  
"Sonic!" Juke asked.  
  
"Yea..?" Sonic responded in his usual "I'm-okay-what-do-you-want?" type of way.  
  
"Uh... that isn't YOUR blood in the hall is it?"  
  
"Let's see," Sonic sarcastically began, "D'ya think if that blood was mine that I'd be awake or alive enough to talk to you? But for your info, no that's my friend Slam's blood, and I warn you not to look out the window, it's not a pretty sight."  
  
Sonic stood up; it wasn't like he could cry here with someone else in the room anyway, "I'm ready to go after one last stop."  
  
He flipped on the flashlight and began to walk slowly through the hallway, and even slower as he descended the gap-filled stairs. At the end he "jogged" out into the sunset, Juke running full speed on his rear.  
  
"Geez! Slow down already!" She yelled, fighting to keep up with the SuperSonic hedgehog. He stopped as he got near the next (standing) house. This one had had the paint burnt off of it and the roof had been annihilated.   
  
Sonic's jaw gaped at the sight "Was this the right house?" He stormed inside, turning on the flashlight of Juke's gun. Waving it back and forth he checked the almost unrecognizable layout, "Definitely the right house," Sonic walked out of the house; he couldn't take the sight of the wreckage of everything that he had known for the first fifteen years of his life.  
  
He slowly walked out of the house, Juke catching up with him shortly. "What did you find?" The Lieutenant asked.  
  
"Fifteen years worth," Sonic muttered.  
  
"eh?"  
  
"Never mind." The hedgehog walked toward the hovercruiser, "It's so hard to believe that this was what I had known for fifteen years, and it's so weird... if I didn't take off for Central Metropolis like I did, I woulda ended up like Slam--- red and dead. Could I have saved him? Couldn't I have taken him to Central Metropolis with me?" Sonic opened the cruisers side door.  
  
"Naw, your brain was too clocked with the whole situation to be thinking level-headed. Of course with your training now, you'd know not to freak," Juke hopped in after Sonic, who had strapped himself into the seat behind Knuckles. She took a seat next to Knuckles and strapped herself in, "We're ready to head to Central Metropolis Knuckles."  
  
"Don't kid yourself, Central Metropolis doesn't exist anymore."  
  
Sonic's eyes widened, "Whaddaya mean 'doesn't exist'?"  
  
Knuckles turned on the thrusters, "You'll see Sonic," He pushed the throttle as far forward as it would go. 


	27. Metroc Blues

SuperSonic Speed-- Chapter 27: Metroc Blues  
  
---  
  
50 miles north of Robotopolis  
  
---  
  
Sonic peered out the window of the hovercruiser and frowned. As they slowly, stealthily snuck into the inner suburbs of Robotropolis, it began to rain, the clouds darkening over head and slowly intensifying the rain until it became a downpour. Powerful jolts of thunder vibrated through Sonic's ears and blasts of lightning lit up the cruiser like a christmas tree at night.  
  
Knuckles growled, "So much for stealth."  
  
Juke shifted back in her seat, pulling down the armrests and sliding on her headset, pulling the mic down into place. "Chaotix should be transmitting to us any time now, right?" The hedgehog asked, pulling down the headset's left ear.  
  
Knuckles checked the status display, "Yes, any time."  
  
Sonic growled, "How long until we're there?"  
  
"Patience Sonic, we must move with both stealth and caution, we're in enemy territory where being seen could be our end." Knuckles said, dropping off as Juke began to talk.  
  
"Uh what? Can't hear you... no I can't hear you I'm getting lots of static... I CANNOT HEAR YOU! STATIC!!!" Juke screamed into the headset microphone, frustrated.   
  
"Adjust the frequency Juke, it might be off a little bit," Knuckles calmly said, steering the hovercruiser.   
  
The hedgehog did so and continued talking, "Yo, speak! Yeah that's better, now where are you meeting us? Roger that," Juke checked the map on the cruiser's status display, "Hmm... that's not too far at all, we'll be there in about 10 minutes." She killed the transmission.  
  
"Where we headed?" Knuckles asked, preparing to program the navigational computer with their destination.  
  
"Metroc Station, Building B."  
  
"Metroc? Huh. Never heard of it."  
  
"Eh... me neither, Vector said it's not very far away only about thirty miles."  
  
"Great, we'll be there really fast."  
  
---  
  
Robotropolis  
  
---  
  
Shady stood at attention and studdered his report, "S-s-sir, I am very sorry to report that the neuro chip has failed to work. Project S.I.L.V.E.R will fight every issued command, whether it succeeds or not is random."  
  
Robotnik pounded his gigantic fist against his control console and swiveled his chair around to face the lieutenant. "For crying out loud Lieutenant you have had three years to iron out bugs on this project, THREE YEARS! Do you know how much money that has taken? How much other work you could have accomplished?"  
  
"Yes sir, I know--"  
  
"No you don't! You have absolutely ZERO PERCENT of an idea! None at all! We could have been developing nuclear missiles for crying out loud!"  
  
"But sir!--"  
  
"No 'buts' Lieutenant! I want to know what HAVE you completed within these three years?"  
  
"Much sir, S.I.L.V.E.R runs and can swiftly attack well, but we have no idea WHY it will not listen half of the time."  
  
"And my precious shockers are doing WHAT?" Robotnik furiously ground his teeth and tensed his fists.  
  
"Causing it much pain."  
  
"And STILL it resists?"  
  
"Y-yes sir..." Shady was shaking in his combat boots.  
  
"Hmm... Well Lieutenant, All I can say is that you had BEST find a way to compensate or you will be short on days." Robotnik turned back around to his computer and growled as he furiously typed.  
  
"Yes sir, thank you sir."  
  
"Get the heck out of here."  
  
---  
  
Metroc Station  
  
---  
  
Knuckles killed the throttle and slowed to a stop beside a sign with a keyboard beside it that read, "Read this well: For those of metal, no entrance shall be allowed, if you are not of metal press in a code the opposite of 336."  
  
"What's the opposite of '366'?" Knuckles asked allowed.  
  
"Huh, Don't ask me," Juke said.  
  
"663?" Tails asked.  
  
Knuckles tried the code and grumbled as it came back "Access Denied."  
  
"Wait!" Sonic exclaimed, "366 spells 'egg' so what spells something for us?"   
  
"Huh, I have no idea. Juke, call the Chaotix."  
  
Juke hopped to it, connecting almost immediately, "Yeah, this is Lieutenant Juke with Guardian Knuckles Echidna, we're stuck outside of Metroc Station, no idea what the code is.... yea? Uh-huh... Uh-huh, ok got it, thanks." She killed the transmission. "Charmy says it's 'Fr33d0m'"  
  
"Roger That Juke, put that into the computer," Knuckles calmly said as he typed the code in. He heard 'access granted' and the ground in front of him opened up, revealing a ramp leading underground.  
  
"Woohoo we are in!" Sonic exclaimed, although the tone was clearly false, he gave Tails a high-five, but that too seemed less than enthusiastic.  
  
Knuckles pushed the throttle forward and the cruiser went down the ramp. The group was now in a twisting and turning subterranean tunnel, illuminated with rows of sky blue lights reflecting off the ground, it was really a road! But to where?  
  
The tunnel ended and the group found themselves in an underground city with not only roads, but buildings to! There had to be an entire population down here!  
  
"Dang! I never even knew a place like this existed!" Knuckles exclaimed as he drove through the underground city.  
  
"Me either, and if I don't know about it, Robotnik don't either I bet." Juke said.  
  
"Well duh! It's still here!" Sonic exclaimed, "Man this city is so awesome! Everything is blue!"  
  
"Let's see, we need Building B right?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Yep," Juke responded, checking the navigational computer. "Says it's that huge building to the right."  
  
"That Navy blue building over there?"   
  
"Aye-Aye Captain."  
  
"Heh, that's quite a huge building, I wonder what they got in there?"  
  
"No Idea, but the fact that its NAVY blue says something."  
  
"No, everything is blue!"  
  
"Not NAVY blue!" Juke protested.  
  
"Alright! I get your point! Let's just wait until we get there."   
  
Knuckles followed the system of underground roadway and turned into building B, following the signs and going into a ramp further underground. A royal blue and white gate lay in front of them, a sign above it and a booth to the left. Knuckles pulled up to the gate and Juke switched the communication systems to the frequency on the sign.  
  
"State your Identity." A voice barked through the system's speakers. Knuckles assumed it was whoever was in the booth.  
  
"Lieutenant Juke along with Guardian Knuckles and two subordinates." The hedgehog leaned back into her chair.  
  
"Do you have business here?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"With whom?"  
  
"The Chaotix."  
  
"Roger that Lieutenant, you are clear to proceed, follow to landing 0031. Your lock key is 62051"  
  
The gate rose, "Thank you. Lieutenant Juke proceeding."  
  
Knuckles pushed the throttle and the cruiser shot forward where he was met with an extremely steep ramp that almost felt vertical as they coasted down it thanks to the cruiser's hover jets. Finally at the end of it, he turned to the right, and the tunnel featured several garages with hovercruisers like his own, except they were painted a Navy blue and the door was a transparent forcefield, "What is going on with these people and their blue?" He pulled up into the garage labled 0031 and killed the thrusters, feeling the thump of the cruiser hitting the ground.  
  
"You can leave all of your equipment in here, we won't be needing it."  
  
The group exited the hovercruiser and proceeded out of the garage. Knuckles entered the lock key into the keypad beside the garage and watched as the forcefield came up, protecting the vehicle. He looked over to his right and saw an elevator. He ambled over to it and pressed the button, "Vector never said what floor or room, did he?"  
  
"Nope," Juke replied, walking through the newly opened doors. 'Huh, weird. The numbers are all negatives and there's seats in the elevator!"  
  
"Well the numbers is because we're far underground!" Knuckles stated matter-of-factly. "The seats I have no idea, however."  
  
"It says we're -11 right now," Lieutenant Juke read the directory, "-11, Hovercruiser landing. -10, Medical Facilities. -9, Barracks. -8, Basic Training. -7, Special Operations Headquarters. -6 Basic Infantry Headquarters. -5, Navy and Air Force Headquarters. -4, Navy Training. -3, Air Force Training. -2, Hangers for Airborne Vehicles and Mechs. -1, Registration, Orientation, and Conference."  
  
"Well, I think we should try -1 first."  
  
"A'ight Knuckles," Juke casually replied as she pressed the button and sat down, the rest of the group remained standing as the elevator began its rapid ascent. "Man we're moving fast!"  
  
"Yeah!" Tails commented, "But it's been a whole minute! Why is it taking so long!" The fox sat down.  
  
"Dunno, but man its taking forever!" Sonic exclaimed, taking a seat besides Tails and Juke. Knuckles remained standing, his face emotionless.   
  
The blue hedgehog noticed that some levels went by in about thirty seconds, while others took an entire minute to go by. Five more minutes passed before the elevator finally stopped at level -1. The group stepped out of the elevator and into a blue carpeted room. The sign above it read "Registration", a desk sat in the distance, an operator and a computer occupying the space behind and on it.  
  
Knuckles walked up to the desk, where he was greeted by the Koala sitting at it.  
  
"Are you here to register for the Blue Army sir?"  
  
"Blue Army? Sir what is the Blue Army?" Knuckles responded.  
  
The Koala nearly laughed at the response, "You seriously do not know what the blue army is?"  
  
"No sir."  
  
"Are you loyal to Robotnik?"  
  
"Absolutlely not! I am against that scum!"  
  
"I'm very surprised, people are usually blue, red or grey, grey being neutral of course. You can probably guess what the red refers to."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But it's not just that which surprises me."  
  
"Well what is it then?"  
  
"Your at Blue Army Headquarters, plus they cleared you. They obviously know who you are, just give me a minute to call them and find out what's going on. Your lock key?"  
  
"62051"   
  
"You can sit in those blue chairs over there." The racoon pointed, picking up his wireless phone. The group went over to the blue chairs and sat down.  
  
"Any idea what just went on?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I honestly don't have a clue, I can't believe the Chaotix didn't tell us about this place."  
  
"Sir?" The racoon called, "Come back here."  
  
"You three stay here," Knuckles walked up to the desk, "Is there a problem sir?"  
  
"No, clearance has you listed as having business with the Chaotix."  
  
"Yes, that's right."  
  
"Alright then, you'll want to head to the conference room past that hallway over there. Last right turn will bring you over there. Oh! And by the way, you might want to come back here when your done, the Blue Army could use some people like you."  
  
"Thank you, sir," Knuckles replied before heading for the hallway.  
  
A minute later Knuckles arrived at the conference room but was stopped by a guard wearing a sky blue vest.   
  
"Are you Guardian Knuckles?" The guard asked.  
  
"Yes sir,"  
  
"Right this way Guardian, the Chaotix are expecting you."  
  
The group followed the guard into the conference room which was also painted a royal blue, the table in the center, however, was a light brown, the first non-blue object the group had seen since they're arrival at Building B. The guard shut the door and resumed his duty outside.  
  
Knuckles sat down across from a lime green crocodile whose skin was brighter than Juke's. He was wearing a pair of black headphones with grey ears. A gold chain rested around his neck.   
  
"Knuxie! Good to see ya man!" Came the crocodile's gruff voice.   
  
"Vector, you know I hate that name!" came the echidna's annoyed reply. "But anyways, good to see you too. Feels like it's been forever."  
  
Sitting beside Vector was a purple chameleon, who sported a bright lemon yellow horn upon his nose. And the last one, sitting on the table, barely bigger than a foot, was a red and black bee.  
  
The chameleons deep, yet soft voice filled the room, "Everyone else be seated quickly, we have important business to discuss."  
  
"Yep! Sure do Espio!" Came from a high voice. It was none other than Charmy bee.  
  
"Hello Charmy."  
  
Everyone else was seated and Espio began. "Welcome to Metroc Station: The last city in the west not ruled by robots. You're probably wondering why you're here, and what exactly is going on. Just give me a minute and I'll explain. Metroc Station was a very secret ancient civilization. At it's lowest point, it's buried four miles into the ground. We don't know much about the type of people who once lived here, but from it's age, we assume that the ancient mobians hid here to survive the great nuclear wars of the 32nd century. Up until the time of Doctor Ivo Robotnik's occupation of Metropolis, only a select few senior military officials knew of this place.  
  
Now, it is home to the entire Blue army--"  
  
"What exactly is this 'Blue army' I keep hearing about?" Knuckles interjected.  
  
"Just wait Knuckles. The Blue army is Robotnik's only opposition. WE are the opforce. Robotnik's city--- Robotropolis, is one of the most well-defended cities in history. Because it's ruled by robots, an all-out strike strike would be worse than hopeless, it'd be suicide. Instead, we must perform recon and small strike missions on the factories and computer systems. So far, many foot soldiers have either been captured or killed, and few missions have had primary success. Because of the failure, we've initiated a program so that we can perform hit-and-fade missions from both the ground and air. We have both mechs and fighters supplied from the eastern continents."  
  
"But how did they get here without Robotnik noticing?"  
  
"Easily, the underground tunnels extend all the way to the way to the ocean. All they do is fly east."  
  
"Now, obviously we're here to do a recon mission, so why are you bothering to tell us all this?"  
  
"Because the Blue army General wants you and your group in his army."  
  
"Espio..."  
  
"Don't say no Knuxie, don't say it!" Vector cheered.  
  
"Do you know what you're asking?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Absolutely! Free underground housing and meals and training and everything. You could be a fighter pilot for crying out loud!" Espio had clearly taken a few too many marketing classes, as Knuckles didn't snap and actually thought about it. The book of world records was getting thicker.  
  
"Well... ok! I'll do it."  
  
"There ya go Knuxie, General Streeoh is waiting in the recruiting office when you're done here."  
  
"Aw man! We ain't done YET?" Sonic shouted, his usual sarcastic tone showing, his real feelings not.  
  
"No, not yet. We are now going to talk about the mission," Espio's tone went dead serious, "You said you had someone who could pull ground recon Guardian?"  
  
"Yes sir, Lieutenant Juke here can do recon."  
  
"Good, good. Alright here's the plan. On the outer borders of Robotropolis we suspect there's a plant mass-producing assassin robots who can freely think and intelligently plan and execute assaults. We are not one-hundred percent sure that this IS the place, and we do not want to stir up attention within Robotropolis about us by bombing the wrong place. If we're going to make our presence known, it must be worth it. Recon-One will sneak into the building through the sewers and then sneak in through the ventilation shafts, surely she'll be able to see down through one. Meanwhile, to cause a diversion, YOU Guardian, will snipe. This will not alert the city like the bomb will as it is only one person. If you are seen, run for it. Rendezvous one mile away from the entrance to Metroc. Questions?"  
  
"Yes sir, what can these two do?" Knuckles asked, pointing to Sonic and Tails.  
  
"Specialties?"  
  
"Sonic, the hedgehog can run clock up to 250 miles per hour and the fox, Tails is excellent at air recon."  
  
"The fox can go as high as he can and spot anything between his location and the sewers, and Sonic can be your emergency runner if he can carry you on his back."  
  
"Yes he can."  
  
"Good, good. Your sniper rifle and other equipment is located on floor -7. We'll also meet on that floor to debrief. The mission begins tonight at 2200 hours, thats a whole 1900 hours away. Get some sleep, as long as you want, you'll need it. Barracks are located on floor -9."  
  
The door opened and a Cheetah burst in. "Sergeant Espio."  
  
"Yes sir?" The chameleon immediately stood and replied.  
  
"Have you explained our current situation to these people?"  
  
"Yes General."  
  
"Good," The General took a seat.  
  
"I have heard your names are Knuckles, Juke, Sonic, and Tails?"  
  
"Yes sir General," Knuckles replied much calmer than usual, the wearied echidna fighting to keep his eyes open.  
  
"I see you have had a long week?"  
  
"Yes General."  
  
"Well, as soon as I am done talking to you, you will be able to sleep, but until then, Chaotix, you are dismissed." All three replied with 'yes general' and immediately left. "Alright, here's the deal. The Chaotix filled me in. You are your own group right? Blue Army generally does not make any exceptions for any single member or group, but you four are... different.   
  
So here's the deal, you will be listed as special forces/operations, as that is generally what you do. However it is perfectly fine if you wish to take part in mech or fighter training. Not one of you will be required to undergo basic training, however you WILL be expected to follow protocol on the base. I assume you are clear on this. I will go and register you and ready everything you need. Dismissed."  
  
The four dragged themselves down to the barracks and checked in with the guard. They were all quickly assigned private bunks just for the night, as the base was ready to begin it's day in under an hour. The four crawled into their bunks, where they would sleep for a long, long time. 


	28. Game Over, Hedgehog

SuperSonic Speed- Chapter 28: Game Over, Hedgehog

Metroc Station 

Sonic sat up, shielding his eyes from the dim lights above. The wall clock read 1600; he'd slept for thirteen hours. He jumped down from the top of the bunk and took a seat on the floor by the wall, trying to be as quiet as possible. Too late. Knuckles stirred and came off of his bunk.

"Thirteen hours, eh? Time to get movin," And with that began shouting "All right peoples its time to rock the house! Up, up, UP! I WANT EVERYONE UP NOW!"

Sonic silently was thankful he had gotten up beforehand. At once Tails and Juke snapped awake, Tails falling off the top of his bunk, gaining his reflexes enough to fly before he hit the floor.

"Alright, now that everyone's up, we can head up to -7 and get our gear." Knuckles opened the door and literally marched out.

-7 The EQC 1615 6/8/4460 

A large black sign with "EQC" in black writing awaited Sonic. "EQC? What's that?"

"Equipment Cage" came the deep voice of one, General Streeoh. He walked by without a proper greeting, seemingly not taking offense by it. "This is where we turn ourselves into real fighters. Feel free to take a look Guardian."

"Thank you sir." Knuckles began to walk along, stopping and picking up a random sniper rifle. "Juke, would it be at all possible for you to work with an assault rifle?"

"Wasn't exactly my specialty, but I can work on it."

"Good, I want you to take one as backup, just in case."

"Yes sir,"

"Sonic and Tails go unarmed for the time being and I'm going to take one of these big'uns." Knuckles said with a loud grunt as he lifted one of the rather large rifles. "probably not this one." The Guardian echidna set it back down and picked up a different one, much lighter than the last and played around with the zoom. While configuring the zoom, Sonic walked up to the end of the scope and stuck his finger in it. "SONIC! What in the world are you doing?"

"Can ya see me Knux? Can ya see me?" Sonic played around, and ran away, hiding behind Tails as Knuckles furiously put the rifle back and ran after Sonic.

"This is SERIOUS! No toying around, you got me?"

Sonic rolled his eyes and walked toward the grenades as Knuckles picked the previous monster up and continued working with it.

"Heyas Juke, what's this button do?" Sonic asked, a fragmentation grenade in his hand. And with that, Sonic stuck his finger through the hole and pressed the switch down. A soft ticking began and Juke raced over to the hedgehog, diving for the nade.

"NO!" She stuck her finger in the hole, and hit the switch button on the other side, sighing in relief. "Do… Do you realize you just dang near killed us all?" She asked. "Seriously, don't ever do that again."

Sonic took a seat next to Tails, shaking his head, "Man, everyone's so touchy today!"

"Come on Sonic, we have no time to waste."

The ride to Robotropolis was fairly smooth and quiet in the night. Knuckles insisted on driving, so for security the team hooked Juke up to a buckle and rope system attached to the HPC. Assault Rifle in hand, she let it rest on her right shoulder, cursing the weapon's unforgiving dislike for lefties.

Sonic sat in the front seat for the ride and found the ride to be too long and far too slow, "C'mon Knux, can't we at least go something faster than 30?"

"Sonic, I've told you before, they'll hear us!" Knuckles yelled in frustration.

"Gee, I think you yell louder than that engine screams! Not like they'd really hear us over that rain over there!" And Sonic pointed to the showering clouds up ahead.

The echidna squinted to look, "That's really strange... they don't usually get rain over here do they Son... whoa!" Knuckles made a quick lateral right to avoid a bolt of lightning that split the ground.

"Well, they definately don't have that!" Sonic's jaw gaped and another lightning bolt ripped from the sky and was aimed directly at Robotropolis, but was mysteriously deflected.

"Now they have shields too?" Knuckles asked himself.

"So much for airstrikes."

The lightning got worse as the team edged closer to Robotropolis but the activity seemed concentrated around a certain building along the Robotropolis skyline.

After some more dodges, they neared the Robotropolis border and parked under some cover. Knuckles switched the channel on his radio.

"Control this is ground element Foxtrot do you read me?"

"Roger that Foxtrot, this is Mission Control, we read you five-by-five, over."

"Ground Element Foxtrot is in position, waiting for further orders."

The squeeky sound of the microphone being grabbed away forced Knuckles to take off his headset.

"Captain."

"Sir?"

"Just want to remind you: Your unit isn't expendible, but one dead is better than two. You know what I mean."

"But!"

"Captain Knuckles I am your command element otherwise known to you as General Streeoh and I know you did not 'but' me. Now enough! It is go-time Foxtrot! Win us one!"

"Roger Command, Ground Element Foxtrot out."

Knuckles smiled and the rest of the crew cheered. With a wave of his hand, Knuckles quieted his fireteam. "Alright guys, we've been given a go, so here's the plan! This is a recon mission to determine if there is a factory producing super-intelligent robots. We need an eyes-on confirmation. Juke, set your radio to "always-on" keep it attached to your back and keep your ears on."

"Roger Knux."

"Good. Sonic, you and Juke will need to get onto the roof using her rope and then sneak through the vent shafts, looking for some visual confirmation of a problem. If you see anything indicative of a threat, you will need to extract quickly because we'll have to report back to the General. Rules of Engagement set by General Streeoh say we can't take any C4 on this mission. Sonic, Juke, are we clear?" Both nodded. "Tails, you're staying here."

"WhaBut I won the other night!" Tails protested.

"Yes, but we have a different assignment for you," Knuckles explained as Tails' eyes fell in disappointment. "Alright, watch the lightning, it seems to be coming from a central building."

Sonic stepped out and sniffed the polluted air. A frown crossed his face and his eyes watered as he saw Robotropolis. He dropped to one knee and laid his head down. This was his home; where his parents were killed. One day it would be his again but for now he would have to take it back piece-by-piece starting now. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and stood straight.

Robotropolis' huge industrial buildings and lasting skyscrapers towered over the fireteam. Most of the structures in the city had been rebuilt with metal walls, probably for conductivity reasons. Rows and rows of buildings covered Robotropolis and it was obvious that taking the city back would require more than assault raids. A nuclear missile would just barely be big enough.

Juke approached him, "I'll take point Sonic, follow on my left flank." She didn't wait for a confirmation and instead ran at top speed toward the objective building. The city was oddly empty and no patrols seemed to be about. She looked at a giant building to her left. Reaching onto her shoulder she pulled off the looped rope and ran toward the building. "Cover me Sonic," The blue hedgehog dropped to one knee and watched the main street. With one hand she threw the rope until its hook clasped onto the edge. Juke pulled twice for security and then motioned for her gun back. Instead of climbing the rope directly, with her limited strength, she just climbed the wall using the rope. At the top she ran, checking for any bots. "It's clear, Sonic, begin your ascent." Sonic opted to climb the same way as Juke and quickly arrived at the roof as well.

Juke located a door and pulled it open, looking left and right for threats. She found herself at the end of a catwalk, multitudes of robots below her. "Oh CRAP!" She thought, softly dropping to the floor. If she low-crawled to the end, then their field-of-view would not allow the two hedgehogs to be seen.

Too late. A door at the end opened and a metallic silver SWATbot came through. It raised its rifle and fired, but Juke reacted quickly, crouching and returning fire. "Sonic! Find a vent!" 

The blue hedgehog looked up and discovered a vent opening large enough for both of them to fit through above his head. Thank God he was so close to the roof. He pushed the cover up and to the side and jumped up. Grabbing on to the edge he slowly pulled himself into a much bigger space than he imagined. The shaft looked the average dull silver he expected but it was at least five times bigger than your average shaft, most likely to accomodate Robotnik's larger than life mass.  
Lieutenant Juke jumped up and struggled with the edge, her feet swinging; Her strength needed serious improving. Sonic pulled her in she didn't react as Sonic did, "What? This is pretty small as far as Robotnik's spaces go." Crouched, she made her way forward down a long, straightaway of the shaft. Farther up ahead it turned sharply left. The two hogs made their way to the end and discovered it straightened out after another turn.

"Wait!" Sonic harshly whispered. "I think I hear something," He peeked around the corner only to see a lightsource at the end. "Oh my god... Juke wait here!" Sonic walked in front down the long corridor, stopping and raising his hand as he tried to focus his eyes on the lightsource in the background... A pair of glowing crimson eyes stared him down and he didn't quite know what to think. Suddenly, he jerked his thumb back and gave the signal to retreat and they both fell back to the corner behind the corridor.

"CRAP!" Sonic whispered, louder than he would have liked."What in the heck are we supposed to do now?"

"No Idea, I've never seen anything like whatever's up there"

"Juke, toss me your gun." Sonic demanded.

"WHAT?" Juke exclaimed, "You've never used one in your"

"Just give me your DFG NOW." Juke complied and threw it to Sonic, who took it and fumbled with it until he found the 'on' switch. "Alright, now it's time to rock these bots!"

Juke stepped out first, squeezing a few blasts of her assault rifle before jumping back to her original position. "Uh Sonic? I think this guy means business." There was an exchange of fire between the red-eyed bot and the blue army's special ops force, but finally Sonic grew impatient.

"DANG IT!" He yelled furiously, "I'm gonna settle this once and for all!" Sonic jumped off and fired off nearly the whole charge of one DFG charge pak before retreating, his back against the corner. It was obviously not far enough because moments later he felt the hot, sharp pain of a laser burn through his right arm, close to the elbow. He yelled, dropping the DFG. "MAN! Now they're using the penetrating lasers! ARGH!" Fueled only by adrenilane he picked up the DFG once more, a look of grim determination upon his face.

"SONIC! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Juke tried to stop him, one useless outstretched hand... but not enough to stop a hellbound hedgehog. He jumped out and fired rapidly, shooting twenty or more shots and dodging the lasers of his mysterious opponent. He was able to fire off five more lasers before a series of clicks befell his ears.

"Oh no..." Sonic complained as he realized what was happening. The hedgehog attempted to dive for cover, but reacted too late as a burst of shots struck the hedgehog. The first laser dug painfully into his left side, the second slightly higher, and the third missing by mere milimeters. Stunned, Sonic fell back into the wall of the shaft, his eyes glazed over. His crimson blood stained the shaft wall and smeared down as he sank to the floor. The robot in the darkness stepped forward, revealing his shining blue metal just as Sonic began to slowly pull himself to cover.

"Oh God Juke, I'm gonna die ain't I? I'm gonna die..."

"Well, it ain't lookin' too good kid," Juke didn't want the hedgehog to have any false hopes. She radioed Knuckles, "Knux, we got a BIG problem, Sonic's been hit three times and its real bad Knux, real bad."

Knuckles didn't bother with the the hows, he instead called General Streeoh, "Command, this is Golf-Echo-Foxtrot with one seriously wounded, we need to extract ASAP. Mission already accomplished."

"Negative Foxtrot, permission denied, its too dangerous!"

"WHAT? Oh my GOD Streeoh! I Swear to god if Sonic dies your a dead man!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Knuckles changed back to his channel, "Juke, he's not going for it, will Sonic bleed to death?"

The lime colored hedgehog pulled him over to cover, but was aware of slow, heavy footsteps coming from deeper down the shaft. She bandaged all three of his burns as quickly as possible, trying her hardest to beat the bot. "No Knuckles, he's bleeding out of his bandages but he won't die from it!"

"Alright, finish and extract yourself immeadiately. Knuckles out."

The evil-eyed bot took a step closer. "Do you know who I am Sonic? Do you... have any idea? I have been transformed Sonic! I am no longer the powerless creature that Shady was, I am now powerful! I am just like you Sonic, only faster and stronger. Metal Sonic I am, and dead you will be." And with that he smashed his fists together, a metallic clash echoing through the halls from the clash.

"A'ight," The Lieutenant whispered, pulling out a syringe from her bag. "If Shady knows what's good for his army, he will capture, and not kill you. This shot buys us time... you will sleep for five days and not remember the last ten... which places you back on the Floating Island with Knuckles." She finished up and watched Sonic's body shudder with pain and then lay still.

The Lieutenant had no choice... no tracker to leave on him, no radio to leave with him, no strength or permission with which to bring him out. She shut her eyes for a quick second, picked the DFG off of Sonic's lifeless body and then began to back out. Crouched, she slowly lifted her left leg and moved it back. She quietly did the same with the other and repeated it as fast and quiet as she could, though she couldn't entirely mask the metallic clanking of her settling footsteps.

A loud bang made her gaspthe assault rifle had hit the vent wall. She silently picked it up and cradled it against her as she continued her way back outside. As she walked away, a haunting laugh and a grunt magnified her defeat as the robot picked up the Hedgehog's body. Softly, the voice taunted, "Game over, Hedgehog."

Juke finally reached the rope and rappelled to the ground. She pulled out the hook and closed the roof-access door. Running at full-speed, she made her way out of the rainy city the same way she came in and ran up the ramp of the HPC before settling into her seat. With a hiss, the airtight doors shut and a wall closed between her and the mission.

"Knuckles, we have to get outta here quick! Sonic's been gotten and I have a feeling the entire city of Robotropolis is gonna be swarming in after us real quick." It evidently got through when the cruiser rocketed out of it's hiding place and back towards Metroc Station.

Back on base a grim AAR (After Action Report) was filed. The mission (listed as recon: Survey area, determine layout and presence of factories) was listed as accomplished, casualties: 1. A Prisoner of war report was filed.

POW Report:

Name: Sergeant Sonic T. Hedgehog

Species: Hedgehog

Age: 18

Color: Blue

Hometown: Robotropolis (Formerly known as Central Metropolis)

Point of Capture: Kilo Personnel Factory, Second floor ventilation shaft.

Captured By (If Known): Unknown Robotic Species.

Reported Injuries (If ANy): Laser Wounds to the following areas: Right Upper Forearm (1) Left Side (2)

Probable Current Status: Unconscious 


	29. The Worst Thing in the World

SuperSonic Speed 29: The Worst Thing in the World

-  
5 Days Later 6/14/4460 ---

A loud backdrop of mechanical noise and the blaring of alarms filled the air. Buzzing faded in and out and shouting voices intruded his ears. He felt the cold chill of metal beneath him. His head pulsed tremendously and the noise multiplied it, but the lights were the killer, they were so, so painfully bright! Even through his tightly shut eyes the hideous rays pained him greatly. But the pain in his head was nothing compared to the explosions coming from his left side and his right arm. He attempted to raise his arms to shield himself from the blinding rays, only to find himself unable to move his arms the slightest and that could only mean one thing: Sonic T. Hedgehog was officially property of Robotnik's Red Army.

The noise of Sonic trying to shield himself must have gotten the doctor's attention as he wheeled his computer chair over to the hedgehog's position. The incredibly bright light must have hurt Robotnik's eyes as well; the doctor moved the jet black goggles resting on his head down to his eyes. Sonic moved his head down a little further and managed to open his eyes. He discovered himself in a strange chair, similar to a dentist's, but made of steel.

In the corner of the room, Sonic noticed a strange robot, it seemed somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out how. The robot's hull was the same shade of blue as his own except for an area on the top of his "hands" which were a bright yellow, and his feet, which were painted the exact way of his own speed shoes. His engine intake sported the same bright yellow as his hands. The strange bot stood at attention and Sonic found the bots figure strangely similar to his own... only a couple of inches taller.

Sonic T. Hedgehog moved his eyes away from the bot to Robotnik. "Where... am I?" He gasped. He must be in worse condition than he initially thought.

"Where no one will ever find you, underground of course. We're in the main control base, very close to the main control room."

Sonic blinked in confusion. "But... Robotropolis? How did I end up here? ...I was on the Floating Island... with everyone else!"

Robotnik cursed as he saw the honest confusion in Sonic's eyes. "So now they're giving their hopeless amnesiacs? Great. No matter. The amnesiac will wear off in a few days, and then you will be mine hedgehog." And Sonic turned his head away.

"I will not talk."

"I have ways of course. If you will not talk willingly, you will talk unwillingly." Robotnik moved his head slowly, hatefully closer to Sonic's and whispered ominously, "You're going to learn, very soon that everyone, EVERYONE has a certain caving point. It could be a physical fear, or an emotional fear, but it is individual and personal to each victim, and when exploited, I can get anything I want, and you'll insist that I take it just to leave you alone."

Sonic snarled, "How do you live with yourself at night?" The hedgehog looked down at himself, his legs and arms clamped to a doctor's chair, unable to do anything. At least real prisoners had their dignity left.

-  
Metroc Station ---

Knuckles was always the type that was quick to anger, but this was just too much. Streeoh had refused Sonic's extraction. Of course, it was also directly his fault for following the order. First operation and they had already lost someone to Doctor Red. The General would probably kick him off the base for that alone, he should have just overridden the order and got Sonic out of there. Knuckles was overlooking the fact that the problem was a lot more complex than that, namely the fact that any tried attempts to extract Sonic would have failed due to Lieutenant Juke's lacking strength and Sonic's condition. At the time however, Knuckles wasn't feeling as controlled as normal. ---

Juke sat in her assigned bed and sighed. Sonic was probably getting the crap beat out of him and it was all her fault. Why the heck did she give him her gun anyway? Pressure. She knew it was the answer, but didn't want to face the facts. It was her fault. But then again, Knuckles was beating himself mentally over the same thing. As she thought harder about the sequence of events, she realized that it was not just her fault for giving Sonic her DFG, and not just Knuckles for obeying Streeoh's endangering command and it wasn't just Sonic being an impulsive hero wannabe, it was everything that formed a deadly chain of events, nobody was innocent in the end.

---

Five minutes later found the enraged Echidna outside the largest, most luxurious office within the whole base. Knuckles entered the office and slammed the door behind him. The General lifted his head erect at the sound of the slammed door. "What do you think you're doing Captain?"

"I'll tell you what I'm doing STREEOH! One of my men nearly died because of your bullshit protocols! We CANNOT lose people at this point, especially not in the most valuable unit of this danged army. You know THAT is true... how can four soldiers outdo a thousand? Simple. We're special ops, we're specialized. We do things your Army can't Streeoh and we can't replace a downed soldier like you can."

"Captain, the organization is necessary to maintain discipline among troops. You know as well as I do that we can't go having our soldiers run off to Robotnik."

"No, but we're Special Ops and we have to do things YOUR way? It's not even that much less the point that your protocols almost killed Sonic! You should at least let us run our show here. At least WE know what we're doing! Tell me how it is that your army of 1,000 is getting slaughtered everyday, while my squad of 4 WAS in perfect shape... I'll tell you why Streeoh, it's because they don't know how to fight and your tactics aren't working. It's time to turn the show over."

"Oh! You're suggesting that you could do a better job?"

"I don't know about that, but I know that your way isn't working and mine is."

"Hmph."

"You can 'hmph' all you want but that doesn't change the fact that one of my soldiers was almost killed... and no medal will change the way I feel about that."

"You know I could throw you out right now and label you as a traitor."

"But you're not going to because you know you need us."

"Exactly."

"But we are no use to you dead!"

The cheetah began to pace his office, "I know... I know. Alright, listen. From now on, I will let you use the base as a resource, you can train in the courses, at the ranges. You can eat and sleep and use our equipment here... However, I will let you get by with verbal protocols only."

Knuckles breathed, "Fine." The Captain walked out of the General's office and smirked... Too easy.

-  
2 days later ---------------

Sonic lay there tilted back in the chair, waiting for Robotnik's next move. He scanned the madman's face, looking for any sign within. The evil doctor seemed fascinated with several flasks located across the room. The blue hedgehog tried not to show his fear as Robotnik walked over a drew a syringe full of the liquid from the flask.

"Do you remember the Vulcan, Sonic? Do you?" Robotnik asked, though he very well knew the answer. The blue hedgehog remained silent, as he had been for the past 48 hours. "Sonic, talk to me, if you don't, you know I have ways of making you talk." Sonic turned his head away. "So stubborn aren't you? Or was the Vulcan that painful an experience?" At this, Sonic turned his head, his face a mask of anger. "In case you are wondering what this liquid here is, it's another one of my little chemistry experiments. This one is designed to make the victim deliriously happy." Sonic looked obviously confused.

"You're probably wondering why I would bother making anyone happy correct? It's because the effect this has is calming allowing me to easily transport you, it would be a fool's mistake to leave you here to develop any break-out tactics. This will calm you, you will relive your greatest memories and accomplishments, you will see your greatest dreams come true, and then you will be given another liquid with the opposite effect, you will feel the ultimate fear, relive the worst memories and pain of your life, you will see your worst nightmares come true! And I will sit here and watch your quivering body and laugh through it all!" Robotnik was now at the shouting point, "Sonic Hedgehog! You tried to beat me, but I, the Great Robotnik, will have the final laugh!" And with that, Robotnik gave Sonic his ticket out of reality...

-  
Sonic opened his eyes, the sun shone through his window, and as he looked to the side of his bed, he recognized a room he had forgotten... one he had chosen to forget. He jumped out of his bed and explored the room. Everything was in exactly the same place they had been left the last time he had seen it. He ran into the main room. And a sight before him made him gasp.

"Mom!" Sonic exclaimed running toward the female, blue hedgehog. He embraced her in the biggest hug of his life and he could FEEL himself squeezing. This was real. He began to cry, from happiness that none of anything was real. The tears wouldn't stop. It was all just a nightmare, the most realistic, painful nightmare of his life, but he was home, finally home.

"What's wrong Sonic?" Swan hedgehog asked, clearly not in understanding of what Sonic had been through.

"It was a nightmare mom... The worst nightmare ever. I dreamed that there was this Robotnik guy, and he took over the world, destroyed Casino Night and Metropolis, took prisoners and killed them or turned them into robots... and you were there too I think Dad died but I never found out, thank god. But you... you were captured, and when I found you he... killed you, right in front of me... Sonic cried more and his mom did her best to comfort him through his traumatic experience.

Sonic gasped. He was thankful everything was real again... But he felt as if he were still attached to the world in his nightmare... It felt real too, and he had most definitely experienced the excruciating electrical shocks on Mount Marble. But as he accidentally banged his arm on one of the walls near his room, he realized that that was real too... so then, what was real anymore? He didn't know, he was still scared, and the blue hedgehog honestly didn't know why... it was OVER, DONE WITH. It was a DREAM (or a nightmare, rather).

As he walked to his door, he felt strange, as if he were being lifted, as if gravity were disappearing. And he found himself...

-  
The first thing Sonic became aware of was his being bound in a chair being tilted up. His head ached and the room spun in circles, the uplifting of the chair only added to the nauseating effect. He bent over the chair and threw up all over the floor of wherever he was... which he wasn't quite sure of. Looking around the room, he discovered his nightmare was far, far from over. He struggled to remember where he was and how he got there. Although as he squirmed around in the chair, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible in his bound state, his wounded left side scraped the chair's side, resulting in the hedgehog letting out a high-pitched gasp of pain.

Dr. Robotnik smiled, and walked into the room, several worker bots behind him. "Shame, shame, messing up my beautiful floor like that, but it is of no problem, as my worker bots shall fix that right away."

How did you enjoy that first test? As you can see, you are not in the same place, and through making you happy, I have hurt you worse than ever."

And Sonic knew it too, it was one thing to see his mom killed, to physically believe that it was reversed and to find out that it was all fake was a completely different game.

"You were easily transported here, I was surprised, except for the sickening grin and giggling from you, you were completely still, unknowing of your existence. But now the second part comes, it will provoke your worst nightmares and fears, oh and by the way, you might die, which would make me very happy indeed."

Sonic spat, he had had enough of this crap. Knuckles had told him to remain silent, but he was through with that. "You won't Robotnik, I won't die until I completely kill you, drop by drop of your blood if needed, and even then that won't be enough to take back every little thing you've done to make my life suck. Killing you won't do anything except free the world, there is no satisfaction for me except knowing that when you're dead no one else will ever again have to go through what I went through. I don't care, I'll still kill you Robotnik! Nothing ever lasts forever and your empire is no exception!"

"Hah! I'll have that as my laugh of the day. Really though, you yourself would likely notice that there is little to stop me, you're the only one that dares oppose me, you and that traitor friend of yours! And in your current state, I HIGHLY doubt you could kill me." Sonic smiled, if Robotnik only knew how many people were out for his neck. "That matters not now, because your worst nightmare shall begin! And I hope it has a most tragic ending!"

And as Sonic was injected with the nightmare substance and as his mind spiraled, The never ending deep, dark laugh of Robotnik faded in and out of his head, repeating itself in various distorted forms. Robotnik was loving this too much, and it was making Sonic angry. "Now Sonic! It is time to probe your worst nightmare! I hope you have a bad day"  
--------------------------------------------

Sonic opened his eyes to the roar of the most incredibly deafening jet engines he had ever heard. The floor beneath him was cold steel and above him were blinding floodlights. All around him were the sounds of chaos, robots being trampled, fighter ships collapsing to the ground, fuel explosions and an explosion too near him caused the hedgehog to be thrown into the air and to the ground like a stuffed dog. Sonic rolled to his side and climbed to his feet, his ears thumping to a drummers beat from the deafening explosion.

Robotnik stood a hundred yards away, but Sonic hadn't noticed the overlord's entrance.

"Good final day is it not? Good day for me, but not you!"

"Whatever 'Botnik." Everything confused Sonic... where was he and how did he get there?

"You see hedgehog, this Battlestation may be done for... but that is of no worry because it will still do damage and has more than served its purpose. There is one task unaccounted for, and I think we both know what that is."

Sonic smirked, fists up, "Oh yeah,"

Robotnik strapped on several pieces of armor to his head and body while Sonic instinctively reached around to his backside and pulled his metal gloves from their holding place. "So 'Botnik, why you need armor? Ain't your fat cushion the blow?"

The doctor smirked as he equipped a pair of his own metal gloves--and said, "It hurts you more than it helps me,"

Sonic could have ended the encounter in less than two seconds simply by using his speed. This was not the time for that however, as some slow and painful torture was the punishment that was called for. Blue hedgehog met fat human in the middle and Sonic threw the first punch. It hit Robotnik but his armor shrugged it off without any effect. Robotnik then drew back his leg and kicked Sonic's stomach in. Sonic fell backwards and Robotnik was instantly magnetized to the hedgehog, tearing him apart like a bird's prey.

The hedgehog resisted... Oh he tried, but Robotnik's weight upon him was too hard to move against. Robotnik seized Sonic's legs and with metallic gloves, crushed the bones in them. Sonic shrieked and went to grab them, but soon found his wrists in the hands of a grinning Robotnik who proceeded in crushing the hedgehog's wrists.

And Sonic screamed with all the air he could find, which wasn't much considering the three-hundred plus pounds sitting on his stomach. His hands useless, Sonic tried to kick, and found his feet in the mitts of Robotnik, who drew back his hands and threw Sonic as far across the room as he could. An immediate cracking sound was drowned out by the roar of rocket engines.

And Sonic thought, "Thank God Tails was not here to see this" His body broken, Sonic laid still as Robotnik paced towards him.

"Hedgehog... so it comes to this. So was it worth it? Why have you come to this Sonic? Two people died, boo hoo. Now your family's toll increases to three. Would your parents have wanted you to die this way? In such pain and suffering and for a worthless cause? I think not, they would have wanted you to be happy living under my rule. But no, defiant as always Sonic, you went against mine and your parents wishes and committed countless atrocities against my empire.

The hedgehog managed a small gasp, "Lies! Lies!" before laying back down. As his head slowly touched the floor, he gasped from the chill created by the battlestation's metallic surface. Sonic shivered and did nothing but curl up as Robotnik spat on him and turned his back.

"Burn hedgehog, burn."

"NEVER!" Sonic shouted as loudly as he could, but the shriek was hollow and full of weakness.

-----------------

Gasping, Sonic's eyes snapped open and his body shook with shock. To his surprise the new room he was incredibly chilly. He shivered, but found the cold helped to numb his wounds. Sonic would not make the mistake of making Robotnik aware of it. He turned his head and found Robotnik furiously pounding away at a computer keyboard. Beats punched his chest and he struggled to catch his breath. Pain came in violent stabs everywhere. Blue bruises, barely visible, formed on Sonic's arms; he had been thrashing violently.

Doctor Robotnik turned his head and wheeled backwards to Sonic's position, "Dang, you're still alive. You just won't die will you? The screaming and grunting was a nice treat, but not satisfactory. Then, from inside of his desk, Robotnik retrieved a smooth, silver pistol. "Ah ha! This is the standard issue for my Lieutenants. In fact, Juke herself carried one of these... I believe you were shot with it? Sonic's glazed eyes blinked in acknowledgment as Robotnik went on spitting random specifications such as the size and speed of it's laser. The doctor then proceeded to turn it on to the welcome of a series of beeps and clicks.

"You see, Sonic, the thing here is that you're just a big pain in my butt."

"Are you sure you don't mean pain in your big butt?" Sonic corrected after a few seconds of pause by Robotnik.

"SHUT UP, HEDGEHOG!" Robotnik took a few seconds to compose himself. "If you were not so meddling, you wouldn't be in this position." Robotnik wheeled his chair over to Sonic and coolly pressed the pistol to Sonic's temple.

The blue hedgehog, despite the pain, reacted immediately, his hazel eyes widening in terror and his breathing coming in rapid pulses. His heart beat in deep, throbbing punches.

"Well well, Sonic finally realizes that someone in the world has a little more power than he has." Robotnik sneered.

The hedgehog's mind raced... should he leak? NEVER. How about beg? That might get him a little ways.

"Do... Don... Don't!" Came Sonic's terrified scream, "Oh god..." His sides ached terribly, but the crying in his mind blurred it out. If only he were free... he could outrun it! No he couldn't, the hallways and turns and rooms disallowed it. He could only run on wide-open terrain.

Robotnik grinned sadistically, "Well well, hedgehog. I never thought you would beg. You've surprised me." Robotnik lowered the pistol. Obviously the hedgehog hadn't been tortured well enough. He placed it into a drawer. and pulled out a pair of rubber gloves and a magnifying glass. The doctor edged toward Sonic and using a remote, rotated the chair to a 180 degree angle. Robotnik unwrapped the bandage carelessly wrapped around Sonic's midsection and watched the blood drip. Robotnik had no intention of reapplying it. "Mecha!"

Quickly, the robot ran into the room. "Mecha Sonic, reporting in, sir!"

"Mecha..." Robotnik wheeled over to Mecha and stroked his pet. He backed over to Sonic's table. "Why look at this artwork! You've done me well."

"As always, sir."

Sonic breathed heavily, gritting his teeth. He was hurt worse than he had thought as he stared down at the monstrosity that was his midsection. There were three holes, but they were barely distinguishable as the blood had covered the area. To any onlooker he would look like a train wreck, and he was. Maybe it was mostly psychological, he hadn't felt it as bad earlier. The hedgehog tried to shift in his seat, but was held too tight by the steel bonds. The hedgehog wondered what time it was. There weren't any windows to be found anywhere inside the steel walls of the control room he was in. Apparently, Robotnik had a very small digital readout on his monitor, far too small for Sonic to see.

As a prisoner, time is your ally, it keeps your senses in check and is almost along the lines of activity. Its like pain in that it lets you know your alive. Even in a small cell, with an even smaller window, witnessing the passage of time can be the one thing keeping you from losing your mind. Stripping a prisoner of his natural clock is worse than stripping them of their food. Better to die than live in insanity.

To keep his mind off time, Sonic counted the tiles on the floor. 55... 56... 57... 57... 58... His mind drifted to Knuckles and the rest of the squad at Metroc. He had failed them so bad... He had lost track of the tiled floor. Game Over. Whenever the tiled floor failed, he estimated the amount of keystrokes Robotnik took in a word and added it to the total amount of strokes from whatever document the Doctor had been creating. Sonic often wondered what odd activity he would be doing when he died in Robotropolis. Probably counting the scars and bruises on his fragile body. This was, without a doubt, the worst thing in the world.

-  
Metroc Station ---

Knuckles was riding the elevator to the barracks. He was wearing an all-black uniform that covered every inch of his body. Ironically, he was about to do what he had tried to prevent. Everyone on the floor knew what was going down. In fact, the floor was absolutely deserted. Room I-01100101 was his intended destination after he picked up his cargo. The room, also known as "Interrogation, 101" was a legend among base occupants. It was said to be the worst kept secret of the base--a place where commanders sent their unruly and unready soldiers for the worst training course available.

Pistol in hand, Knuckles hit the doors keypad with it... right on the + key, which was specially designed to open at a certain impact. The door slid open and the echidna lowered his pistol, the Laser Aiming Module (LAM) centered on Miles Prower's heart. Tails' jaw dropped, along with the screwdriver in his hand.

"Come with me," Knuckles' coldly commanded, his voice changed electronically. Miles Prower froze in his tracks. He couldn't go with the echidna, yet couldn't do nothing. Too late. Knuckles made the decision. He lunged for Tails, who dodged the blow with great agility and thrust his shoulder into the Echidna. Knuckles recovered and reached out with his gun, striking the fox's arm. Knuckles pushed Tails away with his elbow to get away for a seconds recovery before once again diving for Tails. As the fox attempted to move away, Knuckles gripped his arm and swung his pistol into the fox's head. Whack! The fox slumped forward into Knuckles, dizzied. Too easy. Knuckles roughly grabbed the fox and shoved the pistol into the side of his head.

Knuckles ran with the fox over to I-II and opened the door. He threw Tails away and the dizzy fox hit the floor with a thud. With half-open eyes, Tails looked at the disguised Knuckles and uttered a slurred mess of, "Whateheckigonah?"

"Welcome to my room, punk." The guardian went toward the fox and grabbed him, before forcefully throwing him over to a wooden chair in the corner of the room. The Guardian Echidna secured the fox into the chair with rope. "What have we here. A little fox! With two tails none the less," The fox appeared to be semi-conscious, seemingly staring at a black hole. Not like the Captain cared. "So tell me, what's your name?" No response. "I SAID WHATS YOUR NAME?" None at all. "I KNOW YOU DID NOT JUST IGNORE ME, FOX!" Knuckles roughly kicked the fox in the stomach, loudly sending the chair backwards to the ground. "You wanna try that again? You can at least tell me your name."

"My name's Miles Prower, your boss ruined my life and I think you should die... oh and your not getting anything else outta me."

"Oh really?" Knuckles bent over and proceeded to give Tails a bloody nose. The fox swallowed the thick blood and breathed. He simply shook his head. "You know your parents? They looked just like you... the holes were so pretty when they died."

Tails recited pi in his head, pretended to be in a different world... anything. He would not acknowledged what the mysterious figure had just said. He did not exist within Tails' perfect world.

Knuckles stood the fox up and shoved him into another corner. "You're so weak, fox, not even good enough for roboticization. You will be terminated unless you give us something... anything... even your name." Terminated. How formal. "You can end this abuse! You can end it now, go to sleep, take a shower... anything you want." Tails shut his eyes defiantly. "Fine, your call." Knuckles noisily drew the pistol from his holster. "Beautiful ain't it?"

Suddenly, the door burst open and Lieutenant Juke flew through it, pistol carefully aimed in Knuckles' direction. "DROP THE GUN! ...NOW!"

Knuckles laughed, a big grin on his face. "HA! You drop yours or the fox gets it!"

"Your call jerk!" She fired and the light turn into camouflaged blood on Knuckles' right arm. An incapacitated Knuckles lay on the ground, teeth grit in pain. Juke ran through the room, grabbed Tails and carried him out as fast as she could, running into the main hall and into the elevator. She slammed the button to close the door and quickly pressed the button for their barracks. She detached a portable radio from her back. "Room india one-zero-one, Tango down!" After the lengthy elevator ride, the Lieutenant quickly ran into the squad's specially assigned room. Lieutenant Juke laid the beaten fox on one of the bunk bottom's, a soft groan the only audible sound in the room.

"Look kid, I'm gonna leave you here to sleep, I have some business to take care of."

The hedgehog left the room and it clicked shut with a series of digital beeps. She arrived to a Red Echidna, black uniform in hand. "This wasn't right, Knuckles"

Knuckles' grunted, "Hmph, the only thing that wasn't right was you ending it prematurely."

"Aw boohoo Knux, you know it made the breach more realistic."

"True, but your lucky my arm was turned the right way for your laser to melt the balloon."

"Yeah, but that also made it more realistic too... So what's your interpretation of the kid?"

"Well, he's a LOT tougher than he looks, takes things personally, but he's very intelligent, could probably outsmart Robotnik at his own game."

"Just what I thought... see? The torture was absolutely not needed, you just ruined the kid, don't ya feel proud?"

"Shut up, better to ruin him than to have him talk."

-  
2 days later - 6/16/4460 0100 -------------

Knuckles sat in his bunk reading a book on tactics. With two beeps and a grinding noise, the door opened and the Lieutenant walked in.

"Figured any potential ways in yet?"

"Negative, Juke. We don't even know where Sonic is... he could be anywhere within Robotropolis, and that's trouble. I'm trying to get the Chaotix to get us some recon on the situation, but we figure out where he is and then we navigate the sewers to get to him... we go in hard and fast like a valley tornado.

Instantly, the overhead alarms began to scream in its deep, dark roar. Red lights flooded and a voice stormed from above "Storm the front! We will be victorious this time! You will not outnumber them, but out think them! Go my soldier's! Bring me victory!" The distinctive tones of brass instruments played in the background.

"WHAT the heck is going on?" Knuckles asked himself aloud.

A quick peek outside the door showed a mess of fully-geared-up soldiers running down the corridor. "Good god, Knuckles! Looks like they got the whole dang blue army out there!"

Knuckles smirked, "Dang it Streeoh! He's trying to out best me..."

Juke's eyebrow shot up, "What?"

"He's angry that we're so elite and he has numbers on us... so he's out to prove something, which is really dangerous to us. This fool could cost us the war..."

"For a grudge?"

"Ironic. And then that'd be put into future tactical books. 'Never act on a grudge... it could cost you not just several soldiers, but a whole war.' Ha!"

"This might not be that bad Knux. Robotropolis is gonna be Red-Hot shortly... It will be the perfect cover to get in, because with that number, Robotnik's likely to employ a forward defense..."

"And that means 'Botnik's gonna be short on the inside. ...Or at least he'd try to make it seem that way. It's worth a chance though... Aside from getting Sonic out, I'd like to investigate what in the heck was going on with that lightning... It doesn't storm out there usually."

"Right. ...Now one thing... got a REAL plan?"

Knuckles grinned defiantly.

-  
-7, Equipment Cage- 0118 -----

Knuckles and Juke emerged from their respective dressing rooms wearing the standard jackets and pants... all nighttime green. Black seemed the obvious choice, but was in reality darker than the night, so a dark green pattern was developed to blend into the night.

"Okay, we're going subs on this one, assault rifles are too heavy and pistols too light, so the submachine guns should be perfect, but we'll have our frags and disruptors. Since your not as strong, you'll be taking your DFG for a backup. We'll also be taking some breaching charges for blowing doors and walls quickly. ...And for entry, we got hooked ropes we'll be taking that can be fired from your pistol. And lets see... " Knuckles turned around and grinned at a small, metallic bronze, squarish object that was dotted with lights, "Electronic lock-picker." Juke nodded.

Knuckles took one of the submachine guns off the rack and after attaching a sling to it, gave it to Juke, who put it over her head and let it rest on her back. Her DFG was already sitting firmly in its holster on her left side. Knuckles also got himself a Sub-gun from the rack and put it on. Next we're the grenades and tools... They both got two frags, two disrupters and a lock-picker, which both stuffed into their chest pouches. The rope was folded and compacted, and the grappling hooks were folded before being stuffed into their own lower pockets.

As a final check, boots were tightened, helmets were checked, mics were bumped to the grimace of the recipient, and night vision goggles were calibrated. Juke and Knuckles raced out of the Equipment Room and quickly into the elevator to be taken all the way up to -11, also known as the hovercruiser landing. The echidna ran all the way to his HPC in landing 0031, jumped in and started the vehicle.

-  
Outside Metroc Station ---

Once out of the base, Knuckles gunned the vehicle in an attempt to catch up to the massive fleet. Catching up was no problem since the fleet wasn't moving anywhere near top speed as the disused-roads to Robotropolis were jammed with HPCs and other armored vehicles. Above choppers raged and shot missiles toward the Robotropolis boundary, where guards were sure to be placed. As the five-mile marker approached, many drivers decided to get out and run the rest of the way to the boundary, which uncluttered the roads quite a bit. But that was only the boundary, the other end of the city was a good 100 miles away. As the front-end of the vehicles reached the border, the outermost vehicles pulled off the road, allowing the second lines to step up to the front to take their place. Dozens of soldiers stormed out of the vehicles as hordes of SWATbots poured from the cracks of Robotropolis.

Inside the Captain's vehicle, he saw nothing but an endless fleet of vehicles. The ground rocked with explosive vibrations and missiles screamed overhead. Ahead, the missile's deafening explosions combined with the loud shrieks of laser-fire fell back toward Knuckles. "Dang it! What's going on up there Juke?"

"How am I supposed to know any better than you do Knux?" The Lieutenant shouted. Knuckles pulled up his radar.

"There's so many of our dang HPC's that I cant see the enemy!"

"Ok, listen, I'm gonna climb onto the roof, see if I can see what this chaos is all about." Juke pulled the manual door-override and her side door hissed open. Juke went around the back of the vehicle and climbed to the top. With the aid of her binocs, she saw the problem immediately: "My God, Knuckles! I've never seen this many 'bots in my life!"

"How many, Juke?" "I can't tell! There's too many of them!"

"How far to the border, Juke?"

"About 2 miles!"

"Okay, this is what's up, we're going to get out of this mess, and go around the city."

"Roger Knuckles!" Lieutenant Juke jumped off of the HPC, got back inside quickly and shut the door. The Echidna drove off the side of the road and landed smoothly three feet below, supported by the vehicle's hover engines. Knuckles pushed the throttle lever forward and the HPC rocketed forward around the city. This was going to be a long, long morning for everyone. For the entry team of Juke and Knuckles, for Robotnik, and for Sonic. Today they would all do more work by six A.M, than most people do all day. 


	30. CSAR

SSS30: CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue)

---

Robotropolis: 06/19/4460 0230

---

Sonic sat in his chair, his vision blurring as his eyes fixated on the wall. In front of him, Robotnik went about his daily business which generally consisted of some typing here, some orders there. What he would give for that life. A life without constant taunts. A life without daily beatings. A life without wondering when the pain would end. When sanity would return. When tiles would be tiles. "You've got it so easy, Robotnik."

Robotnik smirked at Sonic, and rolled his chair towards the hedgehog. "You'd think so, eh? It's so hard to be me you wouldn't understand. What do I do? I sit here issuing commands all day. In addition to trying to launch a space station within a year, this building's having an outage, it needs to get up ASAP! So I have to shift my attention if I'm in the middle of something to the emergency, and while halfway through that, another emergency will occur! I can't win! And then I need to re-deploy my bots every few hours as new ones come in. Then their weapons need to be checked so that they work and they need to be oiled. I have to issue the commands to get all of this done! All while making sure the electricity runs and the food is there! I put in 24 hour days! For example, right now, there are about 1,000 soldiers and 300 armed vehicles that don't belong to me outside MY DANG BORDER! ARGH! I can't wait to get off this dang planet!"

Sonic stared at the odd act, "and you're telling me this why?"

"Because A. You're in there. And B. You're too ignorant to understand the complex methods of my madness."

"Me ignorant?" Sonic thought aloud, "Never before understood the whole irony thing."

"Sir!" Lieutenant Shady reported.

"Yes?" Robotnik replied, disinterested.

"Your report, sir. You're going to love this one."

"Get out. Now!"

"Yes sir!"

Robotnik picked a ceramic mug off of his control panel and took a sip as he inserted the small, brown disk the report was on. As schematics flashed on the screen alongside satellite photos, his right hand slammed the mug down, hard enough to spill a small bit of his drink. "My God..."

"Ooh! Wah! My life is soooo hard! I NEVER get what I want!" Sonic mocked from his chair.

"Shut up, hedgehog! Some days... look. I have better things to do then listening to my prisoner have fun. Shady!"

"Sir, Lieutenant Shady reporting in."

Robotnik rose--a rare event, and approached his metallic Lieutenant. He struggled, but managed to bend over and whisper, "Take the hedgehog somewhere dark and quiet. He has too much resolve. We haven't done enough. Do your thing. For that matter, do EVERYthing. Destroy who Sonic the Hedgehog, as a person, is. Once you return we will evaluate our options."

"Wilco, sir. Permission to leave?"

Dr. Robotnik stomped, his boots quaking the floor with a metallic twang. His fist extended into a firm point. "GET OUT! It's universal, Shady!"

---

Outside Robotropolis

---

"Juke, we're going around the city. Get out on the northwest end on my go. Secure the area and radio when clear. Potential for rockets means that I can't stop totally, so be quick, roger?

"Roger, going outside."

"Go ahead, just watch yourself."

"Keep your eyes on the road, Captain."

The HPC was slowly pacing its way around the city while the LT opened the right side door. Her assault rifle in her dominant left hand, she reached for the handhold on the vehicles side with spare fingers--the only fingers keeping her inside the armored vehicle. Carefully, she put her front foot on the front side of the vehicles skid, and then proceeded to attach the buckles in place. No turning back now. She put her back leg outside the HPC and onto the skid, "Captain, shut the door!" The auto-doors hissed shut and she was in for the ride. Riding outside of an HPC was like putting a "kick me" sign on yourself. You were the easiest target in the world, and with an assault rifle in your hand, you were also a priority. Fortunately, there was a method of protection. "Capt, I need the armor before we get in real deep-like here"

A wall of armor came from the HPC and boxed the Lieutenant in. "Ready, Juke?"

"Roger that, proceed."

Captain Knuckles pushed the throttle to the maximum, and the HPC cruised the perimeter of Robotropolis.

-----------------------------

Two SWATbots carried Sonic by his armpits as his feet brushed limply across the floor. A mixture of blood and water dripped from his body, marking his path. A third SWATbot opened the cell and the two SWATbots walked past when the laser bars lifted. They carelessly dropped Sonic, turned, sealed the cell and left. A change of scenery. He was now in a dark, dirty cell, though his limbs were unbound. It was only because they knew he couldn't escape in this shape. He should have kept his mouth shut then--because now he couldn't open it if he tried. He was used to the daily beatings. They hurt badly, but he was able to keep it inside. They only left bruises. This was different, however. Lieutenant Shady/Mecha took him away, threw him in a room and let loose. It was a barrage of questions on the location of their bases, their supplier, status, future missions, what they knew, and so forth. When he failed to answer, Shady went wild and tried what must have been every trick in the book. He had been shocked, stuck with needles, been alternated between a bathtub of ice cubes and that of near boiling water, stung by buzzbomber stingers (leftover parts), had the letter "R" (for Robotnik) carved into his shoulder, beaten to a pulp, and he would swear that his jaw was broken (though that gesture was less for interrogation, and more for opening his mouth to Robotnik in the first place). The fact that he was conscious at all was a miracle. He screamed, he cried, and his body had recoiled with every touch. But he never begged and never gave in. He hated Robotnik too much to give in. After killing his mom, Robotnik could have sawed him in two and not given him a word of protest. His destroyed body drifted into sleep as Sonic lay, bruised and unable to move. Hours went by and Sonic woke periodicly, screaming. Shady's torture may have ended, but the psychological effects did not. Shady's treatment may have lasted an hour, but Sonic relived it, over and over again.

Robotnik and Mecha walked into Sonic's cell at the crack of dawn, waking him forcefully with his steel-toed boot. A deep growl invaded Sonic's hearing. "Good day hedgehog." He had decided to once again test Sonic's will. Mecha dragged Sonic into a sitting position against the wall as Robotnik once more pressed the end of his pistol to Sonic's temple. No recoil. No flinch. No squirm. In fact, Robotnik could almost swear he heard a labored sigh from relief. Robotnik's beliefs were confirmed when Sonic looked up--and smiled weakly through his swollen jaw. The hedgehog slowly closed his eyes, ready. Shady had done an excellent job torturing him, but Robotnik was sure that now there was no way to break Sonic--he had been trained. He wanted the brains, and was almost convinced that Sonic was telling the truth most of the time when he denied knowledge.

Robotnik's deep growl invaded Sonic's hearing as he stepped back. "Well, I guess it is a good day for you, indeed. You see... I've decided to... let you go. You make too many noises and lower my property values and are just generally undesirable to have around." At this Sonic cocked his head in confusion. "Of course you must ask how could I possibly allow you the chance to escape after finally catching you? I am not foolish hedgehog. I am not going to sit here waving goodbye as you walk out the front door. Besides, there is a war going on outside anyway. No, I need some excitement in my life. I will give you the opportunity to escape. If you can get past not only my layered security... but my hunter as well..." He motioned to Mecha, who was glaring hungrily, "Then I believe you deserve to escape. However! My money is that in your state, this will be a painful exercise in futility. I will give you a head start, at least to make this exciting. Don't crawl too fast!"

---

Knuckles and Juke had been able to locate the control room by following the most prolific radio traffic channel and were patiently kneeling above the sealed control room vent, listening in.

"Oh man, Sonic's in tight. Think we could try a rope down to where Sonic is?" Juke asked.

"No, our explosives are too powerful to take out the opening without bringing the place down." Knuckles observed.

"What do we do then?"

"We have to follow him until we can get out, then we extract quickly, because the whole dang city will be on our tails."

---

Meanwhile, Sonic was blindfolded and wheeled in a transport chair (a wheelchair with bindings) by Mecha Sonic out of the underground control bunker. Once they were above ground and outside, the entrance was sealed with blast doors, and the game was ready to begin. Mecha walked over to the hedgehog's front side and removed the blindfold. "You have five minutes to run as far as you can." The robotic clone released Sonic's bindings and the chair bucked forward, throwing the wounded hedgehog to the ground. He weakly crawled on his hands and knees in a first attempt to stand and was quickly grabbed by Mecha Sonic, who proceeded to throw him shot-side first to the floor. Tears squeaked to his eyes unchecked and Sonic had to methodically control his breathing and muscular response. Mecha crouched next to the prone Sonic and whispered, "If you have your head start, so do I,"

Perhaps the real reason for Mecha's "head start" was an easier tracking method--Sonic's side wound had reopened and blood spilled onto the concrete. Sonic's strength came from pure adrenaline; he was already taxing his body to the limits just by standing. He began to move as quickly as he could, which ended up being a combination of a stumble and a limp, with the occasional crawling mixed in out of necessity. His legs burned and his vision blurred as his breath came in dry, ragged gasps through his swollen jaw.

As the race started, Mecha stood and watched the snail-paced hedgehog who struggled back to his feet and into a pronounced limp. As the adrenaline fully kicked in, the pain started to fade, but it was hardly enough to run on. He was still badly injured, now worse than before, and walking alone would be a feat. Robots immediately locked on to his position and began tracking him, though they would not follow. Sonic bounded through the alleys as fast as his broken body dared (which wasn't fast), and it took him a minute to notice the resounding pulses of a murderous thunder. In fact, it was thunder, and he began to notice how violent and persisant it was, lighting up the sky as it ricocheted off of the Robotropolis defense shield. Cold, acid rain seeped through and poured, stinging his wounds and slicking the ground. As he ran slowly, he watched the thunder and noticed how it was mostly centered around a calm spot in the middle. If Sonic hadn't been given Juke's amnesiac, he would have recalled the HPC dodging the thunder on the way into Robotropolis. But alas, Sonic became curious as to what was generating the thunder. Had Robotnik built a thunder machine in an attempt to barricade the city from attack?

He pursued the storm's eye. He knew there wasn't a chance in heck that he would make it out of Robotropolis alive if he just kept going, so he decided to make his five minutes worthwhile. But as his legs quaked under his not-so-heavy frame, he suddenly gained new understanding. For Knuckles. For a good three years training program. For running until you puked. And he heard Knuckles' in the back of his head "Down-one! Down-two!" His torturous push-up call. For Sonic now understood that you trained not for everyday, but for THIS day: when all hope had been lost.

After maneuvering around several buildings that housed God-knows-what, and hoping that the thunder would not strike through the shield, Sonic arrived at the calm. He arrived in a wide open area with only a small hill of rubble that had been destroyed and never rebuilt in the original attack on Central Metropolis. He climbed to the top, looked at the ground and found what he was looking for. He managed to climb back down, but it was too little too late. Sonic the Hedgehog could go no more. As he fell to his knees, he could have noticed two red eyes in the reflection of the wet ground but was clueless when a metallic fist hit him across the back of his head and began to drag him away. Five minutes, after all, was not a very long time in Robotropolis.

---

They had taken cover behind another pile of rubble across the street. "I see him Capt'n... He's in trouble! It's that robot again!" Juke shouted, binocs pressed against her face.

"Roger! Intercept... GO! GO!" Knuckles, assault rifle in hand ran toward the hedgehogs.

The two hedgehogs ran toward Sonic, but inadvertently drew the attention of every robot in the surrounding area who proceeded to track Sonic. Shots rang out against the unusually dark Robotropolis morning. Robots dropped and Juke provided cover as Knuckles bounded across the street. The crew was too preoccupied to notice that the rain had stopped. Knuckles shot at the scurrying robot, who dropped Sonic and ran into the night. Knuckles picked up Sonic and proceeded to sling him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Sonic, object in hand shut his eyes in attempt to conquer the nausea he was feeling. Knuckles crossed the road and ran. "It's about five miles from here to the cruiser, you going to make it Sonic?"

No response.

Juke ran to catch up, turning occasionally to scrap the pursuing robots. "Captain!" she yelled, "Look what's in Sonic's hand!" Knuckles peered over to the hedgehog and his jaw dropped. Sonic had slipped into delirium, muttering incessant gibberish, but in his vice gripped fingers was the yellow chaos emerald. The war on the outskirts had distracted most of Robotropolis' patrols and the only resistance came from behind and the sides. The trio ran for what seemed like miles and miles across wet, dirty, city streets. They bounded across factories and power plants. Juke ran ahead to provide cover for Knuckles and Sonic as they had reached a major intersection. She looked both ways and zoomed in with her scope before sprinting across and doing the same. There were too many robots and not enough guns; Knuckles was too busy carrying Sonic to be able to shoot. They were closing in from both angles and she had no choice. She extended her right hand, thumb and index in an "L" shape--her own personal crosshair. With her left hand she pulled out her last her last two grenades-a frag and a disrupter. She threw the disrupter down and aimed with her left before flinging the frag grenade a good forty feet and into the crowd of robots. "FRAG OUT!" She shouted before throwing herself to the floor, disrupter in left hand, right hand covering her helmet. Knuckles braced his legs and secured Sonic as the ground quaked and glass shattered. She peeked from cover and saw the left end relatively safe. She repeated the process with her disrupter to the right and sparks flew as robots crashed to the floor, useless. She quickly pulled out to shoot stragglers before yelling for Knuckles to run like heck. She covered the ends and then ran to them. As she reached the end she turned--robots were still in pursuit and the street led to a dead end! "What now, Captain?" She asked, hopeless.

Knuckles didn't have time to respond when a Blue Army hovercruiser broke through a wall on the east side and came barreling down the street towards them, driving erratically. Knuckles raised his assault rifle and zoomed in at the driver. "Oh my God... It's our number! It's OUR HPC!" The Hovercruiser stopped promptly and the side airlock doors opened. Juke hopped onto the skid to provide cover while Knuckles juiced into the back with Sonic. After the two were loaded, Juke ducked and entered the front passenger seat as the airlock doors shut. The two breathless soldiers leaned back against the hovercruiser's walls as the craft sped into reverse and flew away from the city. Robots pursued but their lasers could not penetrate the HPC's armor. In the back, Knuckles buckled Sonic into the bed before sitting next to him. After watching the blood seep into the sheets for a moment, he quickly turned his attention to the HPC's supply cabinet, pulling out gauze, tape and scissors. He began to rudimentarily wrap Sonic's major wounds on his arm and side, before noticing the fresh gash in his head from Mecha's gun, which he also patched.

As they sped out past the suburbs, Knuckles' focus remained on Sonic, who lay semi-conscious on the bed, talking to himself. "Tails," Knuckles yelled, "You really need to speed it up here, something's wrong with Sonic." The cruiser accelerated, and Knuckles wondered if Sonic's delirious state hadn't resulted from his obtaining the chaos emerald. Knuckles pried it from his hands and held it. The glow was diminished from its usually gold luster, a signal that the powers it gave faded. Chaos emeralds, left unattended, will emit mysterious effects. Without a person to give its energy to, it will be stored and emit in unique and individual ways. This chaos emerald, the yellow one, happens to have its stored energy manifested as deadly lightning storms. Six other emeralds, also unattended are probably emitting their energies too. While some, like Yellow, have deadly effects, others do not. While the yellow's energy may have been flowing in to Sonic, it held no healing powers, and his presence only stopped the storms. As Knuckles picked up the emerald, he realized that nothing in Sonic had changed. He pocketed the emerald and buckled himself in to a back seat.

"So, how did you manage to not only find me, but steal my HPC, Tails?" Knuckles asked.

Without turning, the fox replied, "Gear Captain! I awoke from something-long story, and found you and most of Blue Army missing, so I hitched a ride with the big army and used your gear to find you and your abandoned HPC."

"Streeoh will throw a fit when he finds out we ran our own CSAR mission," Juke thought aloud.

"He better worry about the fit I'M going to throw in regards to his prisoner policies. Besides, he needs us more than we need him," came Knuckles gruff reply.

"Yeah, we almost had it, we were still a good two miles from where we parked, and I was out of grenades. We would have been toast."

In the wide open terrain back to Metroc, the HPC had lost the robots and the HPC continued onward without further incident. "Tails, we're getting close, radio Metroc and tell them to prepare." Knuckles ordered.

"Roger, Lieutenant has radio."

Juke did not reply, but instead tuned the cruiser's COM1 frequency to 110.9. "Cruiser 5461 to Metroc Command, over?"

"Cruiser 5461, this is Metroc Command, go ahead." Came the deep reply laced with a small amount of static.

"Metroc Command, Cruiser 5461 is carrying wounded POW extraction, request immediate medical services, over."

"Cruiser 5461, clearance granted, proceed to level -10 medical landing bay 0041, over."

"Wilco Metroc Command. Cruiser 5461 OUT."

---------------------------------------

Metroc Station 06/19/4460 0845

---------------------------------------

As the HPC went down the ramp at the entrance of Metroc they turned early, at level -10 instead of the usual hovercruiser landing, -11. The team was greeted at 0041 by the Metroc emergency team, who rushed Sonic immediately to a stretcher, strapped an oxygen mask to his face and rushed the hedgehog off to the emergency unit. A furious Captain Knuckles Echidna removed his helmet as he stepped out of the HPC. Everything was the fault of that danged Cheetah. But it wasn't that simple. He had left Sonic to die. Not only was Sonic barely alive, but he was in terrible shape, and according to Juke, worse than when she had left him there, which spelled torture. "Listen Juke, Tails, I'm going to be gone a while, if you need me, find a staff officer to page me."

"Roger Knux, I'll be going into see Sonic in a while, the medics say they need to work on him, so I don't want to disturb him right now." Juke sat on the ground next to the HPC, exhausted.

-------------------------------------------------------

Medical Unit, level -10, Metroc Station

-------------------------------------------------------

"It ain't good, Knuckles." Lieutenant Juke handed Knuckles the report.

Knuckles nodded as he skimmed, "Multiple laser wounds, blunt force trauma to head, concussion, needle marks, multiple bruises and gashes from what appear to be routine beatings, swollen jaw, acute traumatic stress symptoms from torture, high concentration of antibodies resulting from presence of unknown poison..."

"'kid's been through the wringer."

"I'm thoroughly impressed and surprised that he didn't give in. And nobody here is a kid after that last mission, not even Tails."

"I about freaked when I saw our HPC coming at us."

Knuckles seemed to stare into space in thoughtful reserve, "I almost shot him, Juke. I was sure it was hijacked."

"I guess I was more or less surprised that it was TAILS and not some idiot from the big army in the wrong HPC. I'm really surprised at the initiative he showed after what you did going out there and actually figuring out what was going on. Wait, here he comes."

"Sir, I wanted to apologize for my conduct earlier in leaving the base without authorization. I knew you had gone to rescue Sonic and that the big army was at war, I wanted to help any way I could." Tails was obviously expressing his guilty feelings.

"Lieutenant, would you leave us please?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Walk with me Corporal," Knuckles whispered. The fox nodded and kept step beside the captain. "Normally, I would be very upset at such a serious breach. What you did is very serious, don't mistake that. But at the same time, you and I both know that you did the right thing at the right time, and our army is better for it. Just remember that in Streeoh's beauracracy the right thing isn't always the right thing. Do you understand?"

"Not really, Captain."

"Let me give you an example, Corporal. I normally wouldn't say this but I'll make an exception: I am ashamed at the actions, or lack of, of myself. Juke could have left Sonic to die in that vent, or she could have tried her hardest to extract him. She was denied extraction clearance, and left him to die. Tell me, Corporal; was the right thing to do the right thing to do?"

"No, sir. The right thing to do would have been to never leave one of ours behind."

"Exactly. That is not to say that General Streeoh is always wrong, it is just to say that he isn't always right either. So do you understand?"

"Yes, sir I do."

"You do need to understand that your specialties won't always be required on missions, which is why you aren't always taken with. We can't afford to take anymore than we need, in the nature of our ops, more soldiers is a bigger risk for capture. Taking Sonic was a mistake last time, and we paid. Quite frankly, I am not sure you could take the same conditions that Sonic went through. Have you read his medical report?"

"No sir, but I think I could." Tails persuaded.

Knuckles pulled out the medical report. "Let me recite this to you, Corporal. MULTIPLE LASER WOUNDS. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Blunt force trauma to head, concussion, routine beatings. Routine beatings, sound fun? Acute traumatic stress symptoms from torture. Oh, and poisoning. Do you honestly feel by the end you would not be crying for Robotnik to stop? Torture Tails, think about it. Think hard. Because I really don't think you would be ready to deal with it long term."

"Sir, I do. I will stand my ground today and tell you I can. I am mission-capable any day any time."

"We'll see, Corporal, dismissed."

---------------------

ROBOTROPOLIS CONTROL

---------------------

"I am going to state this as calmly as possible. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN MECHA?"

"You said it yourself, sir, you didn't care whether he escaped or not. That's why you let him go in the first place!" The Lieutenant was quickly tiring of Robotnik's antics.

Robotnik was quiet for several moments, "I let him go because I don't care what happens to him. I was hoping he would die in the middle of the war, I am more upset that you let him get away alive. My main concern, however, is that Death Egg is launched on time, if not early."

Fool! Did Robotnik not realize the value of his cargo? An exchange? Of Hostages? Equipment? "Understood, sir. My apologies."

----------------

Medical Unit

-----------------

Days had passed since Sonic had returned to Metroc. Sonic had slipped in and out of consciousness, fighting the pain in his side. The pain in fact, was the first thing he became aware of, that and the bright lights--was he back in Robotropolis? At the thought, his body tensed with fear. His eyes opened slowly and focused even slower. The blurry world revealed itself not to be Robotropolis, and at this he breathed a labored sigh. He looked down at himself though and cringed. This time the wrapping was carefully and professionally done, and made his injuries look all the worse. They looked clean, but ached considerably worse. Had they operated on him? He reached up to rub his aching head--right where Mecha's gun had hit. In fact, he hurt everywhere and as he shook, he still felt like at any moment he would wake up in Robotropolis or--was this Robotropolis? Was this hospital fake? He attempted to sit up and found he could not--and it wasn't because he was bound.

"Don't, Sonic." A familiar voice--Knuckles? This was real? "I'll read you the list later, but suffice it to say I'm surprised you made it out of Robotropolis alive, it was real hairy there for a while."

He tried opening his swollen jaw, and found he was able to. Barely. "Thanks." It came out raspy, he needed water.

Knuckles held up his hand in protest, "Don't speak. Let me do the talking. You don't even know what happened right?" Sonic shook his head. "You went on a mission to Robotropolis--a recon mission. You successfully completed that mission, but in an attempt to escape through the ventilation system you encountered a robotic hedgehog like yourself. This one was very smart, and a gunfight broke out. In this fight you were shot three times and I confess--I left you to Robotnik." At this Sonic's eyes widened in a mix of sadness, horror, and anger. "General Streeoh ordered me not to extract and I obeyed--a mistake I promise you personally I will never repeat. The reason you can't remember anything is due to the fact that Juke administered an amnesiac to you after you passed out in the shaft. You woke up thinking you were supposed to be on the floating island. You've forgotten everything. Heck, you don't even know who Streeoh is do you?" Sonic's confusion was obvious. "This is a military base Sonic, there's a big army here and we're a special forces unit. This is our new home, Metroc Station. The commander is General Streeoh, a cheetah, and you're here in the base hospital."

Sonic rolled up his right sleeve, a thick, black, clotted cut outlining the letter "R" on his shoulder. "I told them to leave it out of the report. Knuckles, listen." Sonic gasped. "Robotnik told me--he's building a space station and it launches a year from now."

As much as he didn't want Sonic to speak, this was too important. "Do you know what he plans to do?" Knuckles asked. Sonic only shook his head. "That's okay; we'll run recon from the Chaotix end and see what we can pick up. Alright, Sonic. I'm going to leave you now so take as long as you want because nothing major will happen for a while hopefully and we need you fully-mission-capable for when it does." Sonic nodded, and Knuckles left. He caught the doctor on the way out.

It was a duck, his nametape read Quack. "Can I do something for you Captain?"

"Yes, sir. Whatever you're giving Sonic for the pain--increase it. He needs more apparently."

"I'll do what I can, sir." Doctors.

"Thank you."

As Knuckles walked away the comlink he was using went off--the Chaotix. "Knuckles, meet us in the war room immediately!"

--------

War Room

--------

"You called?" Knuckles asked. A crowd had gathered-everyone who was anybody on the special forces team at Metroc. Sergeants Vector, Espio and Charmy. Lieutenant Juke. General Streeoh. Even Corporal Tails.

"Captain. I want to talk about ending this war. We believed that if we ran a bomber campaign across the city, we could destroy all major facilities and eventually cut the head and vital areas off of the snake, remember?"

"Yes, sir. That WAS correct until the defense shield came into the equation."

"The chaotix's recon computers have found the source: There's a low-Earth-orbit satellite that is creating the shield. If we can find out a way to thoroughly destroy it, that will cut the shield and open our attack on Robotropolis."

An idea formed, "Well funny you should say that general-- I stumbled upon a piece of intel myself. I think we have ourselves an endgame, sir."

-----------

Most of the team remained in the war room fleshing out a plan to stow away on the Death Egg at launch, using it to destroy the satellite, and the space station in the process. Sonic remained in his hospital bed recovering from the trauma of his time in Robotropolis. He would stay there for three months. During the time he healed physically--though the R that Mecha Sonic had carved into his arm would stay there forever. His psychological wounds healed considerably slower as well. He battled nightmares to the point where he was afraid to go to sleep and additionally he sometimes had day-mares about his experiences in Robotropolis, most notably during Shady's torture. Eventually, the terror lessened, and while it never went away completely he was able to go back to being a real soldier, which ended up being a waiting game. seven months remained before the launch. What would fill that time? Physical training, (or physical retraining, in Sonic's case), battle drills, mock missions, and recon missions to keep up to date on the launch. By the time the final month came, the Blue Army had themselves a monster. All that was left was left was for the time and location.

-----------------------------------------------

Hovercruiser Landing 06/30/4461 0503

-----------------------------------------------

When the day before rolled around, they were ready and anxious. Sonic was anxious for a real mission again. Tails was anxious to prove to Knuckles that he was more than a convenient air recon machine--but a real soldier. Juke was anxious to avenge her parents' death. Knuckles wasn't anxious though, this wasn't just his vendetta against Robotnik for storming his island, it was his war, and he was ready for it. The mode of operations was usual. It would be Sonic, Tails, Juke and Knuckles running ground. The chaotix would stay at mission control and monitor recon. General Streeoh accepted that he would leave the decision-making on the ground to Knuckles. Equipment--weapons, medical supplies and tactical utilities were condensed into several packages and stored in the HPC. When everyone was ready and the launch was confirmed to be a "go" Everyone loaded into the HPC and the airlock doors hissed shut. Captain Knuckles Echidna drove and Lieutenant Juke ran the radios.

"Cruiser 5461 to Metroc Control, over?"

"Metroc Control to Cruiser 5461, go ahead, over."

"Cruiser 5461 to Metroc Control, confirm mission status, over."

"Metroc Control to Cruiser 5461, you have a go, over."

"Cruiser 5461 to Metroc Control, we're rolling, Cruiser 5461 out."

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END OF ACT 2

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End file.
